


Sounds of someday

by Ehh_nej_tak_du



Category: One Piece
Genre: Abuse, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Animalistic behavour, Bonds and Markings, Disabled Character, Emotional Hurt, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, Medicinal experiments, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Original mating lore, Panic Attacks, Slavery, Torture, Violence, alpha to omega turning, blackbeard is dead bcs we dont fkn like him here ok, character injuries, minor OCs - Freeform, non-sexual bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:55:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29159247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ehh_nej_tak_du/pseuds/Ehh_nej_tak_du
Summary: Kidnapped and sold for their alpha status, Ace, Sabo and Luffy must do what they can to survive and hopefully one day escape.But they're strong, surely nothing could change that?Right?(First chapter is prologue. Additional warnings in each chapter note.)((When I say non-traditional ABO, I mean it. It's based on my own lore)
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo
Comments: 30
Kudos: 63





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is a fic I've been super excited to share with people.  
> A quick few things to note though!  
> In this universe Omega and Alpha aren't treated much different, they have different instincts of course, but most aren't gonna look down on them for being either. Only nobles think of Omega as reproductive systems now. 
> 
> In here, people are born their designated rank. Alpha and Omega people have scent glands on the sides of their necks, while beta only have on their left wrist. In this universe, you still present, but you do it twice. While family will be able to tell your rank, strangers wont. Presenting happens when the person is 13-14, and is the start of puberty causing their bodies to change and be ready for the second presenting when they're between 18-23 and their body is ready for reproduction. 
> 
> I will place warnings specifically for each chapter in each chapter notes.
> 
> ALSO! There's not going to be any romantic relationships in here. There's going to be some talk about matings later, but it'll all be purely platonic. However, if you wish to think of any of it as romantic, feel free to do so.

It's raining. 

Tumbling down the dark and secluded pavement street, he gathers his (expensive, may he add. He'd been informed this cloak would be water and weather proof.) garment that'd been hastily thrown on when he'd stormed out. 

They finally, Finally picked up their Denden's and decided to hear him out. He hoped he remembered his gloves so he wouldn't have to touch them during their business, such filth had no right to even look at him normally. 

Yet, desperate times. His fists shook with rage as he thought about those two brats who defiled his blood heir! They pumped that good for nothing brat full of ideas of freedom and family. How idiotic. 

Looking up at the sign hanging in front of the building in Low town, he grimaced as he touched the handle and entered the bar. The place was deserted except for the bartender, and a single man wearing a dark filthy and wet cloak sitting on a stool up front. 

Walking up to them, he sat down so there were still a stool between them. 

"Outlook, right?" The man said, turning to look at him. 

He nodded. 

"So. Tell me, what'd'ya got for trade? Ye made it sound like 'd be a good deal." The man drawled. Outlook wrinkled his nose in disgust at the way he spoke, can't he speak normally and understandable? Did he Have to talk like a hooligan? 

"That's right." He pulled out a couple pictures from his pocket and laid them in front of the man.

"These two brats are known around these parts as troublemakers. They're fairly young still, but plenty strong. My sources tell me they live in the forest, but often go down to some village on the island. I'm willing to pay you if you wish, but I can promise you they'd be useful for traders such as yourself." The man took the pictures of two boys.

Both had dark hair. In the pictures, he could see them walking with a pipe each, dragging a carcass of what looked to be a giant boar of some sort. 

If those two had taken out that boar by themselves, he could see them being useful, even more so at the possibility of a rank.

Glancing back at Outlook, he smiled and pocketed the photos.

"Ye got yerself a deal". 


	2. Day and Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the fire, the brothers decide to lay low in Fuusha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter:  
> None.
> 
> I don't own One piece, if I did, Ace would probably still be alive. (shrug).
> 
> Btw, all chapter titles are going to be named after songs I listened to as I was writing, or songs that I felt would be fitting.  
> For this chap I was listening to Day and Night by Yasuharu Takanashi, an OST composer, and who's known for his work on anime like Fairy tail for example.  
> He made the soundtrack for my all time fave anime Shiki, and the soundtrack is honestly so good I would legit marry it and inject it into my veins if possible, especially the SHI-KI track.  
> Ok I got off topic.. But yeah, if you like emotional orchestral ballads, I highly recommend that Ost. Series too, but not if you like happy endings.

> Small timeskip ***
> 
> Large timeskip ^^ 
> 
> After the incident a few months ago, they decided they couldn’t stay in the forest full time in case someone saw him. People thought he was dead, which conveniently worked for them, but that also meant they’d have to lay low. Ace still went to the outskirts of the forest to check on the.. Remains of the terminal, and Luffy, Ace and himself still went onto the mountain sometimes to gather food and to train.
> 
> When they’d tried to find a temporary hiding place Luffy suggested Makino. Apparently the woman had been taking care of Luffy his entire life and had a spare room they could use. So they packed their stuff, wrote a note (or well, he did) and went to Fuusha village looking for the barmaid. 
> 
> Makino told them she would talk to Dadan about it, but that they were welcome anytime. Stealing a couple mattresses from the terminal, which had been filled with trash almost instantly again despite the corpses everywhere, had been easy work and together they’d carried them to the room Luffy used to occupy. 
> 
> Sabo got his old bed, Ace slept beside it and Luffy slept by the door. Or well, most of the time he did. The kid had a bad habit of crawling into Sabo’s bed. Neither he or Ace blamed him (even if Ace didn’t show it), as he had been pretty close to dying had Luffy’s arm not shot out to grab him. Still, they couldn’t coddle him either, or he’d never be able to set sea at 17. 
> 
> Of course, the village noticed the two new additions to the town, and Luffy, being the loudmouth he is, had introduced them as his older brothers.
> 
> No one really batted much of an eye, but they did ask questions, questions they didn’t have the answers to. 
> 
> So one day, Sabo asked Makino in secret to help him dye his slowly growing hair. 
> 
> He needed to blend in with them better and decided to scrap most of his noble-looking clothing and only wear the spares that he’d borrowed from Ace and Luffy. 
> 
> That night, they’d all discussed the changes, as Ace hadn’t been happy with them.
> 
> “Why’d you go and do that? You liked your clothes, your top hat!” He’d almost shouted at him, instead he’d backed it up with a growl.
> 
> “Are you unhappy?” Luffy had then asked him. 
> 
> “I, no, we have to hide, Ace. This happened, all of this, is because of me. If someone recognises me, then it could very well happen again.”
> 
> “I get that, but why should I hide?”
> 
> “Because you could be recognised as the kid who would hang with me?” He knew it sounded weak. Honestly he thought it was weak, but on the smallest chance that it’d be possible.. 
> 
> “But! When we get older and become pirates people will recognise us either way! We’re gonna be wanted men, there’s going to be wanted posters, they’re gonna showcase your names and everyone’s gonna know them, so what’s the big deal?” Luffy asked. Both him and Ace blinked, it was unlike their brother to be so… thoughtful, for lack of a better term.
> 
> Sabo considered his words.
> 
> It was true, even with his dark hair, the name ‘’outlook Sabo’’ would no doubt ring a bell in the nobleman's mind. He’d probably send people after him. 
> 
> A startling thought hits him. Nobles are linked to the world government, and if Outlook wanted, he could cause a manhunt for his brothers. 
> 
> He doesn’t know them by name he’s sure, but he could ask around and Ace’s been in the terminal long enough for everyone to know of ‘Portgas D. Ace’.
> 
> And isn’t that dangerous in itself? If people spot him, if people spot Ace and make a connection based on the name Portgas.. Sabo doesn’t know if Ace’s mom was wanted or how she knew Roger, but there’s a good chance that someone else _does_.
> 
> And oh god if they found the connection between them. They’d not just hunt them down they’d hunt down anyone who’s ever helped them, Dadan, Makino, Gramps, _Luffy-_
> 
> Someone snaps their fingers in front of his face and he startles.
> 
> Luffy’s watching them with large curious eyes and Ace meets his own eyes with a grumpy worry that he’s used to. 
> 
> “What was that about?” He asks him, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. 
> 
> “What was what about?”
> 
> “That! You just spaced out. I swear it was almost like talking to a door would get me more response. So whassup? You only get like that when you fall into your thinking hole.”
> 
> “I don’t have a ‘thinking hole’ thank you very much. But..” He ignores the snort and mumbled ‘yeah right’ and takes a deep breath, only just then realising how much his lungs were burning for air.
> 
> “Well, I was actually thinking about what Luffy said.” His brother in question turns a confused gaze towards him and tilts his head, he likely forgot what he’d said earlier. 
> 
> “And?” Ace says impatiently. Sabo thinks it over for a moment, how to break the news of his revelation to him. 
> 
> “I think we should stay in the village. I know the plan was to lie low for a while, but.. As Luffy said, people Are going to recognise us sooner or later and come after us. Be it a wanted poster saying Outlook and that man sending goons after me and by extension, you, or… Someone who knew your mother and her connection to.. You know who, and then sending someone after you, and everyone you know. And.. We aren’t strong enough for that. Not yet, at least.”
> 
> As he expected, Ace’s eyes widened at the mention of Rouge and Roger. He didn’t lash out though, so that was a good start.
> 
> If anything, it looked more like he’d never considered anyone recognising the name. 
> 
> “It all comes down to our names. We.. We should stop using them. At least everywhere else that isn’t just the three of us.” He hastily adds that last part when that fiery spark and low growl starts up in his hotheaded brother. He knows, dammit he knows, that Ace uses Rouge’s last name to honour her, but he can’t do that if he’s dead. Or worse. 
> 
> And it’ll still be his name, but no one will have to know. Sabo, too. He’d already thrown away the name Outlook, but using a different one and keeping his hair dark, no one should be able to tell.
> 
> “Cool! So it’d be like, our little secret?” Luffy pipes up. Sabo smiles good naturedly and ruffles his hair gently.
> 
> “That’s right Lu.”
> 
> “So what's your new name??” His puppy-like brother asks him. He’s got stars, and a scheming glint in his eyes that he often sees in the mirror. He’s not sure if he should be proud, or worried.
> 
> Probably both.
> 
> “I haven’t decided yet” The glint intensifies. 
> 
> “Then take mine!!” While he’d kind of expected the question, he’s still a little surprised. 
> 
> While Ace and Luffy looked kind of similar with their mouths, hair, skin tones and cheekbones.. Him and Luffy? Not so much. Sure, their eyes look alike, and Sabo’s tan too, but that’s about it. 
> 
> But with his new dark hair… It could work. 
> 
> Garp already calls them their grandchildren, and as far as they know, Luffy’s parents are dead. 
> 
> “That’s actually a good idea. That’d give us an alibi, too. We look alike enough that people wouldn’t question it either” Ace, who’d been kind of frozen, likely battling himself on the inside or something, shakes out of his stupor and glares at Sabo.
> 
> “Oi Sabo! Are you actually suggesting we take Luffy’s name??”
> 
> “Well why not? Garp already calls us grandsons too. And it’s not like there’s any parents in the picture to worry about, either.” 
> 
> Ace closes his mouth on an argument, looking between him and Luffy, who seems to have lost his patience and is playing with his fingers. 
> 
> “You really think people won’t find out that way? About.. Him?” His brother doesn’t meet his eyes, and Sabo already knows they’ve won him over.
> 
> “Yeah. It’s a safe option. It’s not like Luffy has criminal roots. And who’d suspect the grandson of a known marine to actually be related to the pirate king?”
> 
> “Hey!”
> 
> “Sorry, the former pirate king?”
> 
> Ace sighs, before giving Luffy a nugging.
> 
> “Guess we’re gonna hafta start introducing ourselves differently, then.” 
> 
> And that was that. 
> 
> **
> 
> Feeling something heavy on his chest, Sabo weakly slaps at it in hopes it’ll go away.
> 
> He’s not awake enough yet to really hear the grumble of protest he gets in response. Trying to turn and burrow his face into his pillow, he’s startled fully awake when he realises _he can’t move._ He sits up in a panic, or well, he tries to but the weight stops him from getting further than his elbows. His eyes dart around the room in panic. 
> 
> On the floor besides the bed are two mattresses, one which has a lump snoring away, weak streams of light from the window on his face. 
> 
> The other mattress beside it is empty except for a nest of blankets and pillows. The lump he expected to see starfishing on it was nowhere to be found… 
> 
> Sighing and taking a deep breath, he lifts his blanket and looks down on the ‘missing’ lump. 
> 
> Dark messy hair tickles his collarbone, and he wonders how he didn’t realise it before. 
> 
> Glancing at the clock on the window still, it reads 7:21 AM. 
> 
> “Oi, Luffy.” Gently ruffling the dark locks of his little brother in an attempt to wake him up. 
> 
> He presses closer to his hand, but doesn’t wake up. Typical.
> 
> Smirking deviously, he whispers the sure way to wake him.
> 
> “I’m gonna eat your meat” He removes his hand from his brother's head as it shoots up in such haste it’s incredible he doesn’t fall backwards from the force. 
> 
> With a low growl, Luffy glares at him before looking around the room.
> 
> “No!! It’s mine!!” Trying, and failing to find the meat, he closes his eyes and with an immense look of concentration on his face, attempts to sniff it out.
> 
> “Shut up..” His other brother, Ace, growls weakly at them as he turns around face-down into his pillow.
> 
> Sabo doesn’t blame him, he’d do the same if it weren’t for his chest full of brother. 
> 
> “No way. He’s our problem, not just mine.” He says in retaliation. Ace, the little shit, completely ignores him and even makes fake snore sounds. Grinning, he pats Luffy’s shoulder to get his attention.
> 
> Feeling the large focused gaze on him, he points at Ace.
> 
> “I tried to protect it, but he took your meat” The reaction is instantaneous as Luffy all but rockets himself off of Sabo and lands on Ace, growling and vigorously sniffing as if a drug-detection hound or something. 
> 
> “Hey! What the fuck are you doing, Luffy?! Get off!” Ace attempts to throw him off, bashing him with his pillow, but Luffy latches onto Ace with a hand twisted around his wrist a couple times. 
> 
> When they start growling at each other, he decides to intervene. Even if it’s amusing to watch.
> 
> “Alright alright. Calm down you two or you’ll wake the whole village.” He says, leaving his bed and holds a hand out to separate them. Luffy predictably whines, Ace predictably sulks and Sabo sighs. 
> 
> “Come’on, let's go downstairs and make breakfast. We should still have some ‘gator in the storage.” He finishes, though his brothers ran from the room right as he mentioned ‘breakfast’. Not that that’s surprising, those two are bottomless pits, Luffy especially.
> 
> He wonders, not for the first time, where all that food disappears to. And that if he asks, the only answer he’s going to get is ‘it’s a mystery’. 
> 
> He couldn’t stop the fond smile gracing his face even if he tried. 
> 
> Walking into the kitchen, he sees Ace scolding Luffy on touching the hot stovetop, and watches his brothers try (and slightly fail) using the oven for baked gator. 
> 
> Stepping up, he lightly pushes them away from the open kitchen tool and takes the tray of food from Ace’s hands. His brothers watch him curiously as he puts it in the oven and turns off the stovetops and sets it to grilling instead.
> 
> At some point, Luffy climbed the counter and sat, staring at him with stars in his eyes.
> 
> “You know how to use the oven Sabo?! That’s so cool!! I always burn my fingers whenever I try!” His brother goes, gesturing with his hands as he excitedly talks about how he can’t use the oven, Ace goes to stand in front of the counter top. Sabo grins, knowing Ace is doing it so he can catch Luffy should he fall. Which he probably will.
> 
> It’s funny, he thinks. How Luffy will be excited about anything he does, even the most basic things like the way he talks or, as just occurred, turning on an oven.
> 
> He doesn’t know much about what his brother was doing before he met him, but sometimes he finds himself wondering, and slightly worrying, on who could leave a child so full of happiness for the world, alone to fend for himself with no parents or guardians?
> 
> Sure, he had Makino, that much he knows, but Makino isn’t his mother, and she likely only did it because of Garp. Their grandfather might be a great man (to some) but Sabo doesn’t think he could forgive him for just dumping Luffy. Or Ace. 
> 
> “Sabo?” 
> 
> Blinking, he meets Ace’s gaze. Realising he’d been stuck in his thoughts and never answered Luffy’s question (it being an actual question being debateable). 
> 
> “Well I’ve seen cooks do it, and I remember reading about a grandma cooking for her family in a book once.” 
> 
> “Cool!! You remember that??? You’re so smart!!” His back may or may not have straightened a bit at that, but if anyone asks he’ll plead ignorance.
> 
> The shit eating grin on Ace’s face tells him how effective that’s gonna be. 
> 
> “It should be ready soon. Where are the plates again?” He asks instead, and watches Luffy jump down from the counter in an excitable leap of limbs. He smacks Ace on accident as he does so, and Sabo gets a glare when he laughs. 
> 
> The smackings of cabinets echo loudly throughout the small kitchen and he winces in sympathy for Makino who might still be asleep. Ace, likely realising what a danger it is letting Luffy carry anything fragile, hurries to where their brother is standing on another countertop on his tippy-toes and reaching into the cabinet where plates are. 
> 
> Ace gets up behind him and quickly pulls Luffy off the counter top. 
> 
> “Idiot, use the stool!” He scolds him, Luffy giggles and wiggles in Ace’s arms, but Ace doesn’t put him down and looks at Sabo instead. 
> 
> “You get the plates, I’ll keep this one on lockdown” 
> 
> Ah, that makes sense. 
> 
> “I accept the mission. You’ve made a smart decision” He says, and climbs onto the stool and reaches for three plates before closing the cabinet.
> 
> He sits them carefully onto the countertop and looks through the drawers for cutlery. 
> 
> When it’s all set up, they sit down in front of the oven, backs against the wall on the floor, and Sabo entertains Luffy with a story while Ace watches and makes sure the meat doesn’t burn. 
> 
> It’s routine, a daily occurrence, and he wouldn’t trade it for the world. 
> 
> When it’s done and all plated up on each their own servings, they enter the bar to eat. Makino is up, sitting alone on a stool with some paper in front of her as she hums a tune to herself. Her dark hair tied up in its usual manner. 
> 
> She looks up as they sit down on the stools besides her, and smiles. 
> 
> “Morning boys. Sleep well?” She asks, like she does every morning.
> 
> At first, he didn’t really like Makino. He was polite, and he’d met her before of course, but he didn’t like her.
> 
> But that was because he didn’t understand her. 
> 
> Or, more accurately, he didn't understand why she was so kind, why she didn’t question their relation to Luffy, why she didn’t even blink an eye at Ace’s insults. 
> 
> So he deduced she was faking it, and waiting for a chance strike. 
> 
> (Except he knew he couldn’t figure out a motive, and that Luffy already knew her and his instincts were extremely honed, he just didn’t want to admit it)
> 
> But now, after essentially living with the woman for a little while, he’s begun to like her. Quite a lot. 
> 
> She’s kind, the kindest person he’s ever met, and it makes him uncomfortable, because he doesn’t know how to react, how he’s supposed to react. 
> 
> It only makes him a little guilty that it seems like Makino doesn’t mind his discomfort and respects it instead. 
> 
> “We slept fine, thank you,” He says, watching as Luffy recounts a tale of a dream he’d had where a bowl of pasta was chasing him. Ace nods at her but it’s clear he’s more focused on eating. Which seems like a great idea, Sabo feels like he hasn’t eaten in years, so he too digs in. 
> 
> Ace stops to swallow for a moment before turning to look at him.
> 
> “We should ‘prolly go into the forest later today, that was the last of the gator.”
> 
> They ignore the scandalized sound coming from Luffy.
> 
> “Oh ‘that so? Well we were gonna head in to train anyway, so stocking back up isn’t going to be a problem I don’t think. Should we do it after training, then?” He suggests. They’d be tired from sparring, but it could be good exercise. And he’s positive Luffy won’t be eaten by a crocodile. Maybe. 
> 
> Hopefully.
> 
> Okay maybe they should do it before they train so he’s sure they can jump in and save Luffy just in case. 
> 
> “On second thought, let's do it before we spar.” He says and Ace’s understanding glance at Luffy tells him he agrees.
> 
> They decided to head out directly after lunch later that day, they had initially intended to wait till before or after dinner, but Makino told them Garp might be swinging by in the next couple of days, or later that day, and they did Not want to deal with their grandfather, so instead they took to the forest. 
> 
> Getting to the river where huge gators and crocs alike were all over the place didn’t take long, and each took down their own pair of dinner with their pipes, masterfully watching each other's backs as a practiced art. 
> 
> And Luffy didn’t even get eaten! This was shaping out to be a great day.
> 
> They went to a more secluded area of the forest with a smaller clearing than the one they’d been using before the event. They tried to go there at least once every second day, but they didn’t always manage. Since they were living in the village, they’d gotten chores from Makino that helped them blend in, so a lot of the time Ace and Sabo were in charge of picking up delivery orders, Luffy was in charge of wiping down the bar tables and stools. He still followed them, and did help carry the load, but he didn’t understand the system nor did he care, hence why he wasn’t ‘’officially’ doing the chore with them. 
> 
> Sitting on a tree stump in the steering, he watched as Luffy worked on his aim, Ace helping him with pointers. After that they’d work on hand to hand without Luffy using his abilities. While he’d initially protested, Sabo and Ace both managed to convince him that he could work on his control separately while still improving his fighting skills. 
> 
> Luffy, despite being very young and only halfway to presenting, had scary good instincts. Usually instincts don’t really develop until you’re 13 or 14, as thus he’d been told, but he knew that it differed from person to person, so for all he knew Luffy might just have developed them extremely early.
> 
> On the other hand, if he hadn’t… Well, he already knows his brother was going to be a force to be reckoned with.
> 
> Ace and himself did have instincts too, but they were nowhere as good as Luffy’s. They didn’t know much about how instincts worked besides personal experience, but he knew his brother had an exceptional sense of smell (for food), judge of character and was possessive of his stuff. Whereas Ace was very physically strong and had good ears. He, too, was possessive, but Sabo didn’t actually know if he was worse or better than Luffy in that regard. He wonders if that’s an instinct that many alpha share. 
> 
> He himself had a good intuition, but how much of that being intellect or instinct, he couldn’t say. 
> 
> Ace and him still had one sparring left for the day, but Luffy's been extra-distracted, so Ace told him they’d tire out their brother first so that he doesn’t wander off or interrupt their spar. Sabo quickly agreed and thus he’s been sitting and watching them for the past.. Who knows. 
> 
> He wonders how their lives are going to be once they get out to the sea. They all agreed on becoming captains of their own, but their bonds of brotherhood will keep them together, even if they’re not there physically. And honestly, that’s one of his greatest comforts. Knowing how whenever he feels alone or worried, all he has to do is look at the sky and remember his brothers are out there, watching the same sky as him. 
> 
> It’s a thought that often helps him sleep at night.
> 
> “Oi Sabo! What’re you sitting in a daze for? You’re up!” He hears Ace shout for him. Luffy’s sitting down on the other end of the clearing, blinking hazedly. Seems like their plan worked. 
> 
> Getting up, he makes a show of stretching, holding his pipe in hand, he doesn’t wait for Ace to prepare and charges him head-on. 
> 
> Their pipes creak beneath the force of the strikes they exchange, flurry of sweat and movement, they grin and go back and forth trying to tilt the other off balance. Throwing away his pipe in a move to catch Ace off guard, Sabo reaches in and pushes him with his palm mid-chest, succeeding in making him stumble. 
> 
> He kicks his brother’s left leg, and watches him go down with a curse.
> 
> “Dammit! You play dirty.” Ace glares at him, pride haven taken a blow. Sabo extends a hand to help him up, and his brother accepts it with a huff. 
> 
> “And that’s 50. We should get the meat tied up and get back.” Ace makes a deliberate ‘hush!’ motion with his finger held up in front of his lips.
> 
> “Sh! We just managed to tire him out, don’t go say the magical revival word!” 
> 
> “Pft. You sound like a necromancer with a zombie.” Ignoring Ace’s confused gaze (right, he has no idea what that means,) he scoffs.
> 
> “Besides, if we woke him, we’d have known by now,” He says, pointing out the obvious. Once Luffy hears meat, he’s bound to come running demanding its whereabouts.
> 
> Wait. 
> 
> They blink. And Sabo sees the moment Ace realises it too. The bone deep panic takes over his features, the way he hastily turns towards the other end of the clearing.
> 
> “Fuck! He’s gone, when did he leave?!” Ace says, scanning their surroundings looking for their brother. 
> 
> “I swear to god, I’m gonna get that kid a collar with a bell on it. And a leash.” He says, a hand in his own dark locks sighing exasperatedly, trying not to let the worry cloud his judgment.
> 
> “Alright. If he’d crossed the clearing we’d noticed, so he must’ve gone that way,” He points to the forest behind the clearing where Luffy had sat, “He likely saw a bug or something and gave chase. We’ll get him and then we’ll come back for the meat.” Ace stops in his frantic search before looking back at Sabo. Taking a couple deep breaths, his brother looks more calm now that his instincts aren’t screaming at him. 
> 
> “Right. Yes, let’s do that.” He says, and together they head where they think Luffy disappeared off to. 
> 
> It’s pretty thick forestry, so there’s not much light, and they didn’t really come to this part of the forest either, so it’s not surprising if Luffy got lost. They sniff the air, trying to follow the scent of their brother, but their noses might not be good enough for that yet, at least not with an unknown perimeter. 
> 
> It’s a little ways in that Ace stops him with a stretched out arm in front of him. 
> 
> Looking at his brother, he sees his eyes, they’re careful. Contemplative, almost. 
> 
> Sabo’s own instincts create a dreadful hum in his veins, and he fights it down so as to Not freak out. Instead, he lets the other take the lead, trailing behind him and keeping watch of their surroundings. 
> 
> “ACE!!, SABO!” 
> 
> They both stopped, the voice was slightly muffled, but there’s no way they wouldn’t be able to tell who it is. Before they know it, they’re both running towards the source.
> 
> When they get to the source, it’s in a pocket of forestry surrounded by bushes and a couple of boulders, and on the side, nearly hidden by a bush and some branches, is what looks like a bear trap.
> 
> Except it’s closed and more circular. Sabo’s never seen a hunting trap like it. 
> 
> “Luffy, are you okay?” He asks, hopes the trap hasn’t hurt him. If it Is a bear trap, then their brother might be bleeding out for all they know.
> 
> “It’s dark and I can’t open it! Plus, it smells strange in here,” Luffy talks back to them, and it sounds like he punches the trap from the inside. Maybe it’s some kind of rabbit or fox trap? It kind of resembles a weird round rat trap now that he thinks about it, more than a bear trap.
> 
> He looks to Ace, who’s frowning at the contraption. 
> 
> “What happened? How’d you fall into a hunter's trap?” Ace asks, and Sabo wondered that too. Luffy was (usually) good at avoiding them.
> 
> “I was feelin’ really sleepy right? When I saw this golden butterfly I’d never seen before!! I went after it but it hid in a bush so I jumped in after it and then this thing clicked shut. I tried punching it but it wont open” 
> 
> Neither of them are surprised that Luffy got distracted by a bug, in fact, they should really have seen it coming.
> 
> “Okay, just wait a moment and we’ll get you out” He says and hopes he sounds reassuring. He and Ace trade looks, and then attempt to clasp it open. 
> 
> It doesn’t even creak. 
> 
> They try again, putting their heels in.
> 
> Still doesn’t budge. 
> 
> “See how it’s attached to the ground instead,” He says out loud. He knows Ace will understand his line of thought regardless, though. They can’t open it, so they’re gonna have to bring it back with them. 
> 
> Maybe it’s a good thing Garp was coming, the man could probably blow on it and it’d open in it’s haste to comply or get away. 
> 
> Ace stops and looks to stare over his shoulder. He looks guarded, and Sabo reaches for his pipe.
> 
> Out between the forestry walks a man. He’s wearing a long dark cloak, and Sabo swears he’s seen him before somewhere. 
> 
> Ace’s eyes widen and although his shoulders are still tense, he’s not as guarded as a second ago, so he also recognises him. 
> 
> “Are ye lads alright? I heard a commotion and saw one of me traps had gone off,’” He says and the thick accent makes him think back. 
> 
> Right, a couple days ago the man had been at the bar. A merchant or something who was visiting looking to hunt some of the big animals here for their pelt. He remembered the man talking to him about the mountain forest as they were helping Makino wash up.
> 
> He also remembered Luffy avoiding the conversation altogether and focused on actually washing the tables for once. 
> 
> This wasn’t good.
> 
> “Your trap?” Ace asks him by his side.
> 
> “Ah, ye don’t remember me?”
> 
> “No, we do. But forgive us for asking, I seem to recall you said you wanted to hunt big animals. Why’d you need such a small trap, then?” He asks, watches carefully for any reaction. 
> 
> Ace tenses by his side, and Sabo recognises it as his 'fight or fight’ reaction. 
> 
> He curses his brother’s unusual responses, but at the same time he doesn’t think he could forgive him if he turned tail and ran. 
> 
> Luffy’s gone completely silent, it’s unnerving and further proves that this man isn’t trustworthy.
> 
> “Course, ‘t’was me intention. Tha’s merely a bear trap I’ve modified, that way it doesn’t ruin any of me pelt” He says and steps closer to them. He looks unarmed, and is giving off a casual air, but neither of them can shake the ‘danger danger danger’ that echoes beneath their skin.
> 
> But they can’t run, because that’d mean they’d leave Luffy. 
> 
> Ace shows his teeth and growls, a warning growl he hasn’t heard in a while, his eyes narrowed and staring down the man. 
> 
> Sabo’s skin breaks into goosebumps, the man’s eyes don't widen in fear, he doesn’t even react to the growl at all. 
> 
> But his gaze.
> 
> They’re looking at them.. 
> 
> The way it changed from unbothered to full-on interest. It’s the same gaze Luffy has whenever there’s meat in a room. 
> 
> His knees shake a little, and he can’t help the growl that bubbles from his throat.
> 
> It’s not a warning growl, not an aggressive one, it’s a pleading growl and he’s ashamed of himself.
> 
> Coward. 
> 
> Ace pushes him behind him and crouches, ready to attack as he lowers himself to the ground. Sabo hates that he lets him.
> 
> The man whistles, and suddenly they’re surrounded on all sides. Ace’s eyes widens almost comically, and Sabo’s hand grips his brother's shirt tightly.
> 
> He’s afraid, because they can’t get out of this. 
> 
> He watches two other men come out from behind the cloaked man, they’re holding what looks like the boxes he’d see nobles in high town carry around with a yippy nippy dog or an asshole cat.
> 
> The men smile at them, and Sabo decides then and there that if they’re going out, then they’re going out swinging. 
> 
> With a growl each, they both take off, biting and ripping at any skin they come into contact with, their pipes forgotten only working on instinct, and never straying too far from their youngest still trapped. 
> 
> He sees one of the men hit the back of Ace’s hard with the blunt end of a rifle. Watches his brother crumple to the forest ground and as he’s lifted by his shirt collar, how the cloaked man traces the faint outline of barely there scent glands.
> 
> He realises his mistake of not paying attention when he feels a shattering pain and the world goes black.
> 
>   
>    
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chap! Would love to hear what people think.  
> Please remember this chap was from Sabo's point of view, and therefore he's not the most credible source.  
> Dragon, for example, is very much alive. 
> 
> I'll update this either next week or the week after that, but from tomorrow till friday next week I'm going to be working on my first graduation thesis, so there's a small chance I'm updating then. I'll do my best to update again this month, though:,)
> 
> Also, if you see something that doesn't make sense grammatically, please point it out. I've read it through a couple times myself, but I'm only one guy, I'm bound to have missed something.


	3. Scream out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy wakes up in a mystery place, he's hungry and slightly confused.  
> It's only downwards from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:  
> Human trafficking 
> 
> Sorry for the short chapter! Next one will be the longer, likely more than double the length of this one, and then we'll finally get started:,) Because this chapter was supposed to involve some stuff of next chap but was cut down, I bumped up the total chapters to 16.
> 
> I don't own one piece:,)
> 
> Also, I managed to turn in my thesis just in time, so I should have more energy and time to finish working on this.  
> I haven't slept so if there's any big mistakes in this, that's why. I'm going to read it over once more after I've slept, but again, I am but one man so it's likely I've overlooked something.  
> Enjoy!

Small time skip ***

Large time skip ^^^

P.o.v change ------

When Luffy wakes up, his first thought is that someone must’ve stolen his blanket (probably Ace that idiot... ) because he’s shivering. 

His second thought comes directly after that, when he realises he’s not lying on a soft mattress, nor is a deluded smell of ashes tickling his nose.

Something isn’t right.

Blinking his tired eyes open is harder than he’d thought it’d be, they’re crusty and it’s gross. 

His elbow hits something as he’s rubbing the crustiness away, and the feeling of ‘wrong’ intensifies tenfold. 

He really,  _ Really  _ wants to sit up and run into his brothers waiting arms. Doesn’t matter which one.

He’s not going to though, because then Ace will scold him and tell him to be strong. Sabo will probably defend him, but that doesn’t change the fact that Ace is right. He’s not a kid! He doesn’t need his big brothers to protect him. 

It takes him a moment to realise his eyes are open. He only realises after blinking a couple times, but given that the room is completely pitch black, it didn’t occur to him that he’d actually not forgotten to open them.

Which brings him to his third thought. What the hell is going on? 

And with that, a revelation.

He’s not hearing the steady rhythm of his brothers breathing. Nor any snores, grumbles, movement - nothing. 

He sniffs the air, and quickly covers his nose in a wince.

No gasoline ashy smell, and no ocean and warm smell. 

The whole room stinks of something, something that makes his eyes hang half-lidded and head throb.

Sitting up, he ignores the urge to gag at the stench (how didn’t he notice it till now?) and realises that the bump he’s feeling is actually the roof.

Did the room shrink?

And where’s Sabo and Ace? 

He hopes his brothers aren’t here, wherever here is, because he’s starting to think he’s in some sort of mystery room.

Alone.

He doesn’t like it.

Feeling around with his hands, he concludes that yes, he’s no longer in the room, and that it’s cramped. It feels more like he’s been stuffed into a box.

He’d guess he’d been eaten, but the definitive lack of stomach fluids pretty much void that guess.

Did he fall asleep in some cupboard or something? Is this a prank? 

He feels like there’s something important he’s forgetting, but if he’s forgetting it then it couldn’t have been that important, could it? Nah. 

He sits and twiddles his thumbs, waiting for something, anything to happen, humming that song that Shanks and the lot always played. 

Still, the looming, choking feeling of being alone watches him as he ignores it. 

***

At some point he fell into a restless sleep. 

When he opens his eyes this time though it’s no longer pitch black.

It’s still dark, but now he can make out faint outlines of something opposite of him. His shoulders are aching, and his wrists are burning. He recognises this feeling.

Turning his head, trying to make out something else from wherever he’s strung up, he sees something a lot further away from where he is, it’s lit and glowing the faint light that assures it’s not pitch black.

He sniffs the air, and immediately the tense lines in his body fade. His brothers are near him. And the horrible smell from before is nearly gone, too. 

His head still hurts though.

Hearing a very familiar groan to his right, his head snaps in the direction.

“Ace?” He tries tentatively. His brother, while not as much as Sabo, usually knows what’s going on. 

“‘ L’uf?” Comes the mumbled reply, he sounds tired and groggy, more so than usual. He must’ve been sleeping like Luffy himself did.

“Where’re we?” 

“Dunno,” 

“What?” He sounds more awake now. Had his brother been visible would he likely be able to see Ace’s confused expression as he’d think. Luckily, Luffy knows his brother so well that he can imagine it just fine. 

He hears rattlings, chains and kicks to the wall being moved and grumbles here and there, as well as a familiar constant low growl. Guess Ace figured out they’re strung up.

“What the fuck?” His brother’s voice echoes loudly in the , wherever they are, space, and the rattlings and kicks increases in volume and ferocity. He’s attempting to free himself, he guesses. 

“Ace? Luffy? You there?” From opposite of him (at least, he thinks so) comes the voice of his other brother, who sounds a lot more awake than either of them did.

“Sabo! What’s going on, where are we?!” If Luffy didn’t know any better, he’d say Ace sounded scared. He does know better though, and there’s no way. 

“I… I don’t know. Those bastards brought us somewhere, but they didn’t say where.”

“We were kidnapped??!”

“Probably, yes.”   
  
“Who the fuck would want three brats?”

Sabo sighs.

“I don’t know, Ace. They knocked us out and the few times we woke up they fed us but then knocked us out again, I think they mentioned something about not damaging the merchandise and since we’d likely struggle, they’d keep us sedated. But that’s all I remember.” 

“Hella’lot more than I do. I remember that creepy cloak fuck talking but not what he was saying.” 

Luffy thinks very hard, trying to make sense of what sounds like had happened.

Creepy cloak fuck - The dude he didn’t like. He’d visited the bar and been very talkative, but Luffy’s skin crawled whenever he spoke, so he’d stayed away.

They’d been kidnapped, and were now strung up against a clammy wall. 

Sabo makes it sound like they’ve been here a while, and given how hungry he is...It might have been a week. Or longer. It doesn’t feel like he hasn’t eaten in a while, more like he hasn’t eaten enough.

“I remember that, too.” 

It’s quiet for a moment after that. Luffy wonders if his brothers fell asleep, and considers trying to sleep himself. He’s not tired, but he is bored. 

Footsteps break the bubble of silence that’d been covering them, and Luffy spies some light coming towards him (them?) from the corner of his eye.

As it comes closer, it gets easier for him to make out the outline of a person. So it’s not a mystery floating light, damn. 

It’s a man, not cloak fuck, but someone in equally shrabby clothes. He’s carrying three weird large… shackles, it looks like, and has a round set of keys in his hand. Standing in front of him, Luffy realises he’s behind bars, and that he was right, Sabo is shackled to a brick wall opposite of him behind his own set of bars. 

The man unlocks his cell (why is it even locked when he’s tapered to the wall? Is that guy stupid?) and puts the light he brought with him on a.. Wall… pen… thingy? A mystery light holder, and his now free hand unclasps one of the huge shackles from his belt. 

The man doesn’t meet his eye and picks him up from the wall by his hair, Luffy squeezes his eyes shut. It hurts.

“Oi, what’re you doing to Luffy you bastard?!” He hears Ace shout from the cell next to him. 

“Hey, leave him alone!” Sabo shouts right after.

Luffy isn’t scared though, because they’re here, and he’s sure that whatever happens will be alright, his brothers will take care of him. They’ll help him.

So he won’t be scared. 

A ‘’click’’ sound and a beep penetrate the air, and suddenly his throat is clasped tightly in something icy cold, he wants to cry but he’s not going to. This is nothing. The guy lets go of his hair and drops him harshly to the floor. Opening his eyes, he lifts a hand to his neck- 

What??? Is that.. A.. Collar?? 

A metal collar of some sort is around his neck, and there looks to be a leash attached to it that the man is holding.

“Try and take that off and you’ll die.” He tells him. His hand leave the collar as if it was on fire - he didn't want to die!! 

The man doesn’t give him more thought as he attaches the leash to the bars and unlocks Sabo’s cell. 

His brother’s eyes don't leave his own, even as he’s pulled from the wall in the same manner Luffy himself was, even as the collar is clasped tight around his own neck.

His eyes are steadfast unblinking, conveying a message to him, ‘ _ I’m alright, don’t worry, it’s going to be okay’  _

And Luffy knows this, knows that it’s all going to be okay, but some treacherous part of him scares a little at the sight of his brother, his strong protector, at the mercy of someone else like that.

It doesn’t occur to Luffy that Sabo isn’t fighting back, because the man has a knife and his eyes trail Luffy’s movements. 

He attaches Sabo’s leash to the bar beside himself, and he doesn’t wait even a second as he jumps into his open awaiting arms. Ignoring the clank of the collars colliding, he burrows his face in his brother’s chest, as he can’t tuck it beneath Sabo’s chin like he usually would. 

He feels a hand running careful fingers through his hair, and an intense feeling of safety washes over him, something he only ever feels when in the arms of his brothers, his kin. It’s laughable, really, how in this situation where they’ve been kidnapped to some mystery place, but Luffy can’t find it in himself to care. Now when his brothers are with him. 

As long as they’re okay, then he’ll be okay.

He hears Ace growl and snarl at the man, and doesn’t bother to look up to watch him being collared. It was enough one time thank you very much.

He does look up when he feels Ace’s hands on his back, and lets his brother look over him with detail-oriented eyes, making sure he’s unhurt. 

Luffy could be bleeding out right now, but the fact his brother cares so much would’ve made him happier than ever. 

Grumbling slightly, Ace reaches out a hand for him to take, something he only does when Luffy’s scared, and he takes it. His brother's hand is slightly larger than his, but it’s warm and rough and it’s home. His other hand reaches for Sabo’s own, and clasps that just as tightly. 

The man doesn’t say anything as he unclasps their leashes from the cell bars and starts to tuck them with him. Luffy almost chokes for a moment when he starts out at a fast pace, but thanks to his brothers he keeps up just fine and in time to avoid it. 

They’re led down a dark corridor lined with cells that’s housing multiple people, all attached to walls or each other with barely any lighting. The place reeks, and the people, men that wears the same shrabby clothing like cloak fuck and the guy pulling them, all give him the creeps. 

At the end of the barely lit corridor is a closed large metal door that the guy opens. There’s other people with collars on them standing neatly in a line behind a red piece of cloth. Luffy can hear, and smell, hundreds of people beyond that curtain. 

As they closer to the line, he watches in curiosity the way the people in front of him are all shaking. It’s not that cold, but who’s he to say if they should freeze or not. 

The man puts them at the end of it, and after speaking to someone else they now all wear the number ‘34’. 

Little by little people disappear behind the curtain, he hears screaming, talking and the distant smell of sweat and something else gets stronger in the air. His brothers hands are sweaty, and Luffy notices distractingly that Ace’s hand is clasping his so tightly that his own hand is starting to feel all static-ly and tingly.

“Nr.34 is up!” Someone else shouts, and the man who brought them hands them to another man in a weird brown tuxedo. 

He pulls their leash pretty hard and Luffy stumbles. Sabo manages to right him, before retaking his hand. Ace’s face is impassively cold, and another feeling Luffy isn’t going to bother thinking about, because this is Ace. 

They’re led through the curtain out onto a huge stage, another man in a tuxedo holding a microphone is smiling widely at them.

It makes his skin crawl.

The stage lights are huge and gold rimmed, lighting up the large room (hall?) in an array of colours, there’s people, scents and sounds are overwhelming his senses and Luffy shuts his eyes hard in an attempt for relief.

It doesn’t work, but it was worth a try. 

“Listen up everyone! We’ve saved the best for last, behold!” The tuxedo-microphone man gestures to them. 

“Here we have not one, not two, but THREE young alphas with minds ready to be modified! These three come from a forest where enormous ferocious animals lived, proving these alphas are no doubt strong!” 

People from the crowd all ‘ooo’ and ‘aaaaaa’s, some clapping, while others stare at the three of them with an intense gaze. 

“And if that wasn’t enough, these three are brothers! Which means they’re certified to be amazing breeders when they present later, where they’ll be fully trained! And to top off this extraordinary serving, the youngest-” Luffy is pushed forwards roughly, making the leash snap up and the colour tighten around his windpipe. 

“-Is a devil fruit user!” The man finishes so loudly that the crowd, who’re now all gasping and cheering to different degrees, can’t hear the ferocious growls his brothers are making.

“We’re starting off these three at 10 million berri!” 

Multiple people raise a paddle looking stick with a number on it, and the tuxedo man is pointing and talking but Luffy isn’t listening anymore.

He feels afraid, he doesn’t want to feel afraid and shouldn’t either because his brothers are here but he  _ is  _ \- 

He thinks he has an idea of what’s going on, he’s spent a lot of time in the gray terminal, but at the same time he’s got no clue.

Or maybe he just doesn’t want to think about it.

Turning his head to look at his brothers, he sees them smile at him, but their eyes are just as afraid as Luffy feels, and he doesn’t know what to feel about the very obvious fact that they’re scared of this situation, too.

And while Ace looks scared, Sabo looks downright terrified. 

They’re hiding it well, but Luffy can tell, and Sabo knows, his smart curly haired brother understands the situation, and right now he really wants to yell at him to tell him what’s going on, but he can’t, not just for the noise, but because his body isn’t listening to him.

The collar is chokingly tight, he feels overloaded with sensations and emotions he can’t get a grip on - he wants to yell and growl and bite and do  _ something  _ \- but he can’t.

It feels like he blacks out instead, like the coward he is. 

The world returns to him, when his leash is harshly pulled and a loud “SOLD!” echoes in his mind. 

He doesn’t watch out for where they put them, doesn’t look up from his feet on the ground, feeling the metal touching his chin as he listens to the step step step as the only thing to focus on. 

When they stop, someone else is given their leashes and then they move again, but Luffy can’t remember anything but that. 

They’re shoved into tiny cages next to each other, it’s dark again, and as soon as he’s sitting down against the bars his mind shuts down completely.

He passes out. 


	4. Appetite of a people pleaser

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace had never thought himself as anything other than worthless.
> 
> The picture of hundreds of people trying to buy him, to buy them, doesn't change that.
> 
> If anything, it makes him feel worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for the chapter:  
> Violence  
> Character injuries  
> Language (this is Ace, after all,)   
> Torture
> 
> If themes of slavery, manipulation, blackmail of any kind, major character injuries and emotional hurt, aren't themes you feel comfortable reading, do Not continue.  
> There'll be fluff, there'll be a happy ending, but this will get dark, this chapter is only the beginning. Things are only getting worse from here.
> 
> If you still want to continue, then I hope you enjoy!:,)
> 
> I don't own One Piece.

Short timeskip ***  
Larger timeskip ^^^

P.O.V change ------

While he doesn’t want to admit it, Ace is _ freaking out.  _

Not only did he fail to protect his brothers from possible harm that cloak fucker could’ve done, but he failed to prevent their kidnapping.

Which, apparently, wasn’t even the last of their problems.

He knows that nobles deal in slavery, he’d never been able to understand why, but he knows it.

And because of him, he and his brothers are about to experience it first hand.

Because they’d been sold,  _ sold _ !

He’d never seen himself as anything but worthless, a good for nothing bastard that killed his mother, the person who loved him more than anything, and shouldn’t even have been born in the first place.

But he doesn’t think he’s ever going to forget the roars of the crowd as they announced their ranks - that they were young alpha children.

Which, how do they even know about that in the first place? As far as Ace knew, only family could tell. They’re not old enough to have any telling scents or instincts, either.

The worst thing wasn’t that, though. Sure, he’d been surprised and pretty disturbed at how people were almost jumping over each other to.. To buy them, but.. How his brothers reacted, that was the real surprise.

He’d imagined that Sabo would maybe keep himself calm, and quiet rebellion in his eyes, and that Luffy would be kicking and screaming baring teeth at them all.

But that didn’t happen, Sabo wasn’t calm, Sabo was freaking out just as badly as Ace was, his curly haired brother had been whining- whining! Something he has Never heard from him before, and he’d been shaking slightly, so slightly that Ace doubts anyone else noticed.

And Luffy… God, Luffy. His eccentric, fears no-one brother, had been completely frozen. He’d looked overwhelmed with his eyes staring unseeing at the crowds, only reacting a couple times or turning his head to look at them. Ace remembered meeting his eyes, but Luffy didn’t smile, blink or react in any way. 

When that pale wrinkly bastard won the betting and they’d been pulled away and shoved into tiny cages, Ace had wanted to bite someone's hand off.

But the guard with a long sharp looking rod had been eyeing him warily, and he knew one wrong move and his brothers would be in danger. He couldn’t, no he wouldn’t, fail them further.

He was glad he was in the middle of the three cages they’d been put in, he’d reached out and found his brother's hands, Sabo’s had immediately clasped it, not saying anything. 

Luffy’s hand had been slack, and Ace figured he’d passed out somewhere. 

He doesn’t dare think further along on that. 

***

They’d been in the dark trailer? Looking thing for hours before it finally stopped.

Luffy had yet to move, and Sabo’s breathing had slowed down from the hyperventilating ones he’d been doing. 

“Ace?” His curly haired brother speaks, his voice is rough and he can barely hear it.

“Mhm?” 

“Do… Do you think they’ll separate us?” Sucking in a breath, he feels like he’s choking. He hadn’t considered that. 

“I.. I won’t let them” 

A tense silence stretches out between them. Because Ace knows. They both know.

If they truly wanted to separate them, then no matter how ferocious his snarls are, how strong his claws are, how hard he’ll bite.. He wouldn’t be able to stop them. 

Even if they worked together, they still wouldn’t. 

“Okay” 

It’s a comfort, a false one, but a comfort nonetheless. His instincts are telling him that it’ll be needed. 

They hear the trailer door unlock, and it’s barely a minute later before the huge doors are swinging open and streaming in light. It’s too bright for his sensitive eyes so he shuts them. 

“I want these three ready by four at the latest.” The pale fucker says.

“My sir, your taste in slaves is as exquisite as always. When I’m done with them, should I place them in their boxes?”

“Put them in the newly emptied one with the beta.”

“Together, sir?”

“Are you questioning me?”

“Of course not, sir! I will have them done and in their box by the appointed time.” 

“Good.” 

Ace opens his eyes and blinks a couple of times, watching as pale fucker leaves. There’s two people there, both wearing white button ups, a vest and jeans. They have rods on their backs, a gun and a knife on their belts. Ace doesn’t like the sight. 

Their leashes are picked up by vest dude #1, he has square glasses on. He looks like a mole.

The other one looks like a bird. 

When they unlock the cages and pull them out, Ace snarls at Bird who’s trying to shake Luffy awake. His brother doesn’t stir.

“Leave it, prolly better if it’s asleep. Less resistance,” Mole says, completely ignoring his and Sabo’s growls.

“Alright” Bird throws Luffy over his shoulder like some sack, the sight fills him with anger. His brother’s body is slack, the collar a stark contrast to the tan skin, mouth hanging open with barely there mating teeth protruding in the light. It makes Ace think of the way he looked when he’d been strung up by Porchemy. He feels a stab of guilt and wills the thought away.

They’re pulled harshly to a small stone house with a chimney blowing smoke into the sky, it sits neatly at the bottom of a larger house that splits off in two long rows. When they enter it, their leashes are clasped to the wall.

Except for Luffy who Bird-fucker is still holding.

“Let’s start with this one. I’ll get it set up, you get some clothes for it.” 

Ace and Sabo watch on in quiet trepidation as robes are prepared, bandages, creams and medical equipment are off to the side, and Luffy is placed on a table face down, still out cold.

At the end of a room a large screen door is placed, and they watch as Mole-fucker handcuffs Luffy to the table, before he walks to the door and opens it.

There’s a fireplace? It looks like a fireplace, kinda, and there’s a bunch of different instruments hanging on the wall, hooks and rods everywhere. 

Ace feels a cold sweat break out on his skin, and nausea build up in his throat.

In a class case right in the middle of the rod-room, is a silver rod with a specific pattern at the end of it, and Mole fucker picks it up and puts it into the fire.

He doesn’t stir around in the cole like he expected, the man lets it become glowing red hot, sparks flying about it. 

Bird-fucker spreads Luffy’s tiny legs so he’s laying handcuffed to the table in a spread eagle position, legs fastened to it now as well. 

“Wait… They’re not..” Sabo mumbles beside him, so he turns his head to look at him. His brothers eyes are taking in the scene with a calculating fear-full look, before his eyes widens to a extreme degree in realisation.

He doesn’t like that look. Sabo starts to struggle violently in his binds, his brother’s pupils completely blown in a fit of adrenaline, growls, that Ace recognise as threats and warnings, ring throughout the little room in such an intensity it makes even  _ Him  _ want to cower. 

Bird fucker walks away from Luffy towards them and, using the rod on his back, puts Sabo down. Apparently there’s electricity in those things. Great.

Sabo’s growls doesn’t stop, even though he’s laying down and glaring at Bird fuck. He doesn’t stop baring his teeth even through his pain, and if Ace wasn’t so worried about just how bad the thing his brother must’ve realised, he’d be proud. 

And impressed, too. Just don’t tell Sabo.

Bird-fuck places a rag between Sabo’s teeth and shortens his binds on the wall, Sabo doesn’t stop snarling or glaring at him. 

He walks back to the table and continues getting various robes ready, and they watch as Mole-fucker, glowing hot rod in hand, walks towards the table.

Sabo’s muffled shouts increase.

Ace feels himself freeze in horror, surely they’re not.. But.. 

Bird fucker cuts Luffy’s dirty shirt down the middle, washing his back with a cloth before stepping away and letting Mole-fuck walk up to their brother.

Ace will never forget this moment in his life, it’s going to be one of the only things he sees when he closes his eyes, it's been burned into his eyelids.

And he’s never going to forgive himself for allowing this to happen.

The rod is placed swiftly on Luffy’s bareback, who startles awake with a broken shout, trashing against his binds, drool hanging from his chin and he just, won’t stop screaming, a horribly hoarse onterouge of pain.

The screams are so loud they’re almost unable to hear the sizzling and popping of raw, burned skin. Ace has to stop breathing, the stench of burning flesh and rubber choking his nostrils more than the collar ever could. He has to move to the side to throw up the barely there contents of his stomach. Snot and salty tears drip onto the mess he’d made on the floor. He can’t bring himself to look up again. 

The screams finally start to die down, replaced by barely incoherent mumbling and groans. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, and forces himself to look up. 

Luffy’s twitching on the table, Ace can’t tell if he’s passed out or not. He barely twitches as Bird-fucker picks him up by his collar and puts him in a water filled small basin that’s stationed in a corner. 

He scrubs him fast and rigorously, dries him off and deposits him in a red sleeveless shirt and matching shorts. They remind Ace of a hospital gown. 

Bird fuck then deposits him in a different corner, bound to the wall. Luffy’s eyes are open and glazed over, he’s looking at Sabo and himself, and his heart breaks watching his little brother’s tiny hand make grasping motions towards them. 

Mole fuck washes the rod, before going back and placing it in the flames once more.

Bird fuck walks over to them and picks up Sabo, who hangs limp in his grip, his brother’s eyes doesn’t leave Luffy’s still form on the floor. 

Ace doesn’t want their younger brother to watch this, so he tries to catch his attention. Luffy’s eyes look tired, tired and scared like the crybaby he is. 

Ace makes sure to hold Luffy’s eyes when the second wave of screams and sizzling skin arrives.

For once, he doesn’t mind that Luffy’s crying.

Maybe because he can feel his own tears dripping from his chin.

Sabo, wearing an outfit matching Luffy’s but in grays and blues, are laid down next to their brother whose hand reaches out carefully and touches Sabo. Sabo scooches himself closer to him and pushes Luffy’s face into his chest, hands around his head.

Ace is thankful, he doesn’t want Luffy to see this.

Doesn’t want Sabo to, either. 

He doesn’t resist when they pick him up or place him on the table face down.

Even though all his instincts are screaming at him to fight back, to do something -anything- he tramps those instincts down and stays still.

Because if these sick fuckers are willing to do this to a child, what else would they do, should they resist? 

Ace doesn’t want to think about it.

And he has to protect them, if he wants to protect them at all, then this is the only way how.

The pain is like nothing he’s ever felt before in his life, and he’s been burned plenty of times.

This doesn’t even begin to compare.

It feels like he’s melting from the inside out, fire licking up his spine and eating away at his skin, it bubbles and sizzles and screams at him. 

It’s the worst thing he’s ever felt in his life.

It’s over just as soon as it started, but the pain doesn’t fade, it lingers like a hook stuck in his bones, the cold water doesn’t help, if anything it makes the ache worse.

He’s pretty sure he saw the pull out some bandages, but they don’t wrap them or anything.

He’s forced into clothes, red and yellow, and then he and his brothers are pulled roughly through a door and down a corridor that splits in two. They turn right, and a long hall full of cages with bars stand proudly. He wonders if all of them are occupied.

Each side has a row of cages with an opposite cage. Pulled down between it, the men stop in front of the only filled cage. Bird-fucker puts them in the empty one opposite of it, and Mole-fucker unlocks the other cage. A lanky dark-haired teenager with spotty skin? Glares disinterestedly at Mole-fucker. 

“Beta, bandage those three.” He tells him, Ace notices that the teen isn’t wearing a collar, but instead wearing shackles. 

He’s led out of the cage and into the one where they are. They’ve all been sat on the ground, Luffy’s head is resting on Sabo’s knees. Ace has Luffy’s feet on his.

Bird-fucker presses a button on a remote he pulls from his pocket, and all their collars make a clicking sound, before they’re taken off by the man. 

They’re put into shackles on their feet instead, but he finds it hard to care now that the choking sensation is gone. 

They close the door to their cell before leaving, and all three watch the teen as he sits down with the bandages opposite of them.

“Who’s first?” He asks, voice deep and bored.

“Beg pardon?” Sabo asks, Ace winces at the scratchy sound. 

“You three are new here. I’m going to bandage you up, so that your.. Wounds don’t get infected.” 

“Who are you? Are you one of them?” 

The teen snorts.

“Do I look like one of them?” 

Ace’s eyes scan the teen? Preteen? He looks younger now that he’s closer. His hair is short and choppy (likely cut by himself), his cheeks are slightly sunken in and there’s dark rings beneath his eyes. He’s wearing similar clothing to them, except he’s wearing a long sleeve. His clothes are gray.

Plus, there’s the shackles. They’re on his wrists instead of his feet.

“Guess not,” Sabo says. 

“My name is Trafalgar Law. I’m one of the beta servants here.”

“Servant?”   
  
“Would you rather I’d say slave?” The silence is answer enough.

“So. Which one of you’ll be first?” He repeats, Ace groggily steps up and walks closer to him. 

“I’m gonna pull off your shirt, please sit still,” He’ll have to give it to him, the preteens? Hands are careful and practiced, checking over Ace’s harmed still warm skin, wrapping it in bandages. 

He puts his shirt back on, and helps Luffy sit up so Law can look him over as well.

Sabo’s the last one.

“How long have you been here? And where is here?” Sabo asks Law while he’s being wrapped. 

“Hm. A year I think. I don’t know, I rarely leave the house. They know I have medical training, so I’m mostly used to oversee the… pleasure servants progress and health.”

“I’m surprised they care about their health at all,” 

“They don't. But if they’re not healthy, they can’t produce clients or be useful. If you don’t treat your tools well, it won’t last long after all.” 

“We’re not their tools” He bites out. The beta looks at him, his eyes are calculating and, dare he say, cold. But there’s also agreement there.

“You are for now.” The beta places a hand on Sabo’s neck, right by where his glands are and his brother stiffens. Ace’s lips pull back in a snarl.

Luffy watches with careful eyes.

“Alphas, huh. All three of you?” 

“How.. how’d you know?” Sabo asks, and Ace wants to know too. 

“You have scent glands on your neck, and based on the sizes of them, I’d say alpha. Of course, there’s still the chance you’re an omega, but the nobles generally believe omega to be weak, so they’d never guess that.” 

That was news to him, and Sabo too by the looks of it. They’d always been told people wouldn’t be able to tell. 

“You three related?” The beta asks.

“What of it?” Ace retorts.

“I see. Makes sense why he’d want you, then. Alpha as slaves are treasured and sought after - especially young ones. Omega, too, but the age doesn’t matter much there as they’re usually only used for… Pleasure and breeding.” 

“What… What would people want three alpha kids for?” Sabo asks. Luffy looks confused, likely by the pleasure and breeding part. 

“Nobles' views on our designations are very old school, they believe that Alpha are strong and fierce, dominant and built for fighting or heavy labour. Young alpha can be trained to be the perfect machine. And, they believe that genes are everything. So if you have two brothers, both turning out to be alpha, then your children are likely to be either alpha or omega. 

Of course, this isn’t the truth, yes your designation is determined by genes, but it can be both recessive or dominant depending on where it occurs in your gene, so you could end up with a beta child from an alpha-alpha lineage.”

“Wait wait wait, does that mean they’re…” 

“Planning to make you breed a perfect lineage of slaves? Possibly.” 

Sabo’s face goes completely white at the thought (not that he’s better himself because what the fuck-) and Luffy’s tiny eyebrows are scrunched up in confusion.

“Tora-o is a beta? Why would they want you?” Luffy asks, titling his head from where he’s leaning against them.

“It’s Law. And the man who.. Owns us, liked my ‘exotic’,” He gestures with his hands, “Skin tone. The patches are a byproduct of an illness I had. There’s nothing exotic about that in the least.” He says. Luffy nods in understanding. 

“What do you think they’re gonna do with us? Are they gonna separate us?” 

“Don’t know. They’re likely going to be using you as chore-boys for labour or other stuff. And no, it’s unlikely they will.” 

“Really?” 

“Yes. It’d be easier to control you if you’re kept together, after all.” 

He hates to think about it, but Law’s right. He selfishly doesn’t want to be separated from his brothers, he’d rather they get through this together. 

Even though he doesn’t want to drag them down with him.

It helps a little, that if they weren’t together, who knows what they’d do to them? Seeing as they already hurt them like this. 

Yeah, he prefers them to be within eyesight.

***

Neither of them are sure how long they spent in the cage with Law after he’d bandaged them, but at one point someone came back and separated them, and then Luffy and Sabo fell asleep clutched tightly together. 

He wasn’t going to sleep, someone had to stay watch and he’d prefer it being him than one of them. Law was being silent in the other cage. Ace figured if he asked other questions on what to expect then the teen would probably respond, but.. Who knows how much of it’d be helpful. Or true. 

Hearing footsteps, he prodded his brothers awake, careful to not stir their backs.

He growled weakly at the sight of Bird fucker. 

“My, aren’t you spirited? That’s an alpha for you.” 

Unclasping the collars from the wall, Bird fucker went to unlock the cage. Neither of them resisted seeing as he held a knife, and if they did they’d aggravate their backs further and that wouldn’t do them any good should they need to protect each other. 

That didn’t stop them from growling of course. 

The man led them down the corridor and out of a back door towards a large mansion behind it. It had huge brown doors with bronze swirls on it, and armed guards were standing in front of it.

The guards opened the doors for Bird fucker and them, and it led to another hallway with a red carpet and brown walls lined with ugly gold-rimmed paintings. 

He led them into a large room that looked to be a dining room. Guards with swords and rods were standing in neat lines against the bronze walls of the room. In the middle of it were a long brown-golden table, and opposite of it up against the wall were four throne-like seats.

Seats which were occupied. 

Pale fucker’s sitting on the big left throne, beside him, an equally pale fucker, sits a woman Ace assumes is his wife or mistress or whatever. On the smaller thrones sitting on the site of each throne, are two, also pale fuckers, teens sitting with ugly mugs matching those of pale fucker and pale bitch. Their kids, then.

Bird leads them to stand in front of the thrones. Ace shows his teeth and builds up a snarl, but Bird fucker fucking hits him on his back for it. Choking on a scream, he goes to his knees, damn that hurts. 

Twin shouts of “Ace!” makes him stop to breathe, and rights himself on shaky legs.

“ ‘M fine” He’s not, but he has to make them believe it or who knows what they’ll do.

Reckless brothers the lot of them.

“It’s alright Leonardo. It’s funnier when they still have spunk. Besides, we’re going to snuff out that fire shortly.” Pale fucker says.

“Yes, sir!”

“Daddy, are those the new alpha?!” 

Teen 1 asks. 

“That’s right sweetie. You can each pick one as your own, the other will be for you to share.” He tells them, and the two teens look at him and his brothers with vile smiles and an ugly gleam in their eyes. 

“I’ll take the curly haired one!” Teen 1, who’s wearing an ugly green dress, exclaims pointing at Sabo.

“Then I’ll take the other big one. It looks like it’s going to be strong and useful.” The other one says, who’s wearing a matching ugly green suit. 

“I bet you mine will grow bigger than yours.”

“Now now, don’t fight. How about naming them first?”

Dress-teen stands up from her throne and walks down towards Sabo, who’s not so subtly standing in front of Luffy. Ace feels proud, Sabo looks scared, and has been giving off scents of terror since they’d been captured, but he still puts their brother first. He’s strong.

Ace gotta set a good example like that and protect both of them.

She reaches into a pocket in her ugly dress and pulls out a pair of white gloves, which she puts on before reaching out and touches Sabo’s face, turning it this way or that way to give her a better view.

It makes him feel sick, and he fights down the urge to jump at her. Not with the way that Bird fucker is watching Luffy.

“It’s eyes are a mix of brown and blues, I think I’ll call it Pochi!” She pats Sabo’s head. 

“Huh? That’s a stupid name,” Says the suit-teen, who’d moved to stand in front of Ace while he’d been watching Sabo. He feels his own face being prodded at, and stops himself from biting at the gloved fingers in his face.

“This one has spots unlike that one, so wouldn’t it make more sense for this one to be named Pochi?”

“Wrong, you’re just culturally weak, Nii-sama.” 

“Then I’ll name this one… Max” 

“That’s lame”

“Says you”

“Stop it! Remember, you two were the ones who asked for this, so you’re the ones responsible if they step out of line whenever you’re using them. If it gets hurt have the beta look over it.”

“Yes, father”

“Of course Daddy!”

“Now then.. The little one will be for all of us to use, but since it’s still so young, we might as well focus on training it for now. Doubt it’ll be much of use. Ah yes, let's name it Nanimo, then.” 

  
  


Ace bristles.

Nanimo??

NANIMO?

If anything, they’re the ones who’re nothing. He’s the worthless one, not his brothers, they’re both the sun and the moon, they don’t deserve to be treated like a pet or like nothing at all.

Sabo with his cheeky attitude and wit and Luffy with his careless happy-go-lucky attitude and smiles for days.

He can’t stop the loud growl bubbling from his throat, or from showing his teeth and the Pale fucker. His brats quickly retreat to hide behind their thrones (cowards) and Sabo’s watching him warily from the corner of his eye.

“Luffy’s not nothing! Sabo’s not your damn dog! We’re not your objects!” He yells, and damn he Knows he should shut up, but he can’t stop it, the build up waves of frustration and anger directed at himself is spilling over it’s small container. 

And the damn Pale fucking bastard is smiling, he looks  _ amused- _ ! 

“Leonardo, put Nanimo in my chambers and return these two to their box.” 

What?? He can’t separate them! Not Luffy, he needs them! 

His brother looks startled as the rod comes in contact with his arm, but he doesn’t look hurt. Bird fucker seems momentarily surprised and shocked, before he decides to switch targets to Sabo, who’s hit by the rod again, passing out with a shout.

Bird fucker picks up their brother and presses a knife to his face.

“Behave.” 

Luffy freezes and lowers himself, eyes wide and panicking, their gazes meet.

Ace stops. They already hurt them, the man’s not kidding, he’d not hesitate to carve out an eyeball. 

He lowers his head and lets the man lead him away to his cell. Law watches them and meets his eyes but doesn’t say anything.

In their cell, he places Sabo’s head onto his knees and presses his face into his stomach.

Their collars are hanging outside the cell, but the missing one is making it’s presence very obvious and sucking the air out of the room.

So much for protecting his brothers.

\-------

  
  


Luffy doesn’t like this place.

They’ve hurt his brothers, they’ve made them bow and behave like… like dogs, and now they’ve separated them. 

He’s sitting alone and tapered to the wall in a huge room with a desk and lots of cabinets adorning the walls. 

It’s cold and his feet are unclothed, he feels the chill running like small ants up along his spine.

Although that might just be the fear. 

The man who’d sat on the throne enters the room, Luffy really doesn’t like him. He’s pale and large with hairy hands and yellow, almost orange, teeth that clearly suits his ugly personality.

Which is what scares - no, not scared, which is what makes Luffy dislike him the most. 

The man reeks of harm and danger and his instincts are screaming at him to get away at Any cost, but he can’t move.

He looks at Luffy with a creepy sticky smile and walks over to one of the desks, pulling out a… tool of some sort from the drawer. He’s wearing long yellow gloves that reach his elbows.

Maybe he’s a germanphobe, he’d seen many of those.

“Well then, let’s start the training.”

“Training?” He cocks his head, the man’s smile turns around and scowls at him. He slaps him with a gloved hand - it doesn’t hurt (he’s rubber!) but it surprises him.

“Don’t speak unless I ask you to!” 

“But-” He slaps him again.

“Stop!”

And again.

“If you speak up one more time I will have your mouth sewn shut.” He says, and Luffy bites his lip.

Taking his small hand, the man studies his nails, before gripping it tightly at the wrist. 

“Resist and you’ll stay here forever” 

Luffy doesn’t resist.

The man places the tool and grips his thumb nail on his left hand, the pressure increases and Luffy bites his lip when something starts to  _ give. _

Which doesn’t make sense because he’s rubber - he’s supposed to stretch, why isn’t he stretching?? Why is this painful? 

The give opens way to red blood spilling from the nail that’s being pulled strongly by the tool, it hurts. But Luffy doesn’t make a sound or resist so the man will put him back to his brothers and he’ll be safe. 

His finger feels like it’s on fire and the nail drops to the floor. 

He moves on to the next nail.

The floor is dyed crimson, and he still doesn’t resist even as he moves on to the other hand.

Soon, he’ll be in his brothers arms. 

“Leonardo, scoop up the nails and add them to my collection. Put Nanimo back in it’s box and let the beta bandage it’s fingers. Tell the other two this’ll happen again next time they disobey.” 

“Yes sir”

He doesn’t really pay attention to where they’re walking or what’s happening to him, his head feels kind of like it’s being stuffed or emptied out through his ears. A nap would be great right now, surrounded by familiar scents.

When they stop, he lifts his eyes and looks at Ace’s face, he looks pale, and dare he say, worried.

Luffy realises that Sabo might’ve been hurt when the other dude had used the long stick thing to knock him out. 

His collar is removed and he runs to Ace’s open arms, careful of Sabo who’s still out cold.

His nose instinctually searches out his brother's scent and buries itself in his neck. 

“Luffy-ya, let me see you for a moment,” Oh Tora-o is in their cell again! Neat!

He turns his face and grins at his new friend. Who’s gesturing for him to move closer. 

He doesn’t want to, he wants to stay with Ace. ( _ Wantstofeelsafe _ )

“Luffy, could you let Law look at you for a moment?”

“Why?” Ace blinks and looks shocked.

Oh right, Sabo!!

“Anyways hows Sabo?? Is he alright?? You look worried, was it the stick?” 

His brother’s expression worsens, it looks more like his heart is breaking. Is Sabo going to die?

“No, Luffy Sabo’s.. Sabo’s just out cold. It’s you I’m worried about” 

Him? Why?

“I’m fine, we’re together” 

“Luffy please let Law look at your hands” 

Ace never begs, so Luffy reluctantly moves from his brother's warm and safe body and turns to sit in front of Torao, who reaches out for his hands.

Right, they’re kind of numb right now so he’d forgotten. 

He bandages and cleans his hands as good as possible, but they’re still a little red stained as he wraps them. He thinks he’s saying something but Luffy’s too tired to listen. 

He feels Ace tug him towards him and lays him besides Sabo on his lap.

He watches his brother’s face, his brothers gray and brown eyes, long dark unruly hair and the spots on his face.

He’s always wondered where he got those.

“Ace?”

His brother smiles weakly at him, but the look in his eyes doesn’t recede.

“Yes, Luffy?”

“Where’d…you get them?”

His brother’s brows furrow in worried confusion and he looks panicked up at Torao.

Luffy lifts a carefully bandaged hand and pokes a spot. 

Ace freezes and looks back down at him.

“Where?” he asks and hopes his brother gets it. 

A more honest smile graces his face, eyes uncharastically gentle meets his.

“I got them from my mother”

“Did she poke you with a marker?? Tha’s not nice” 

“It’s okay, I’ve forgiven her,” 

Luffy smiles at that and is out like a light. 

\-----****-----

When Sabo stirs on his lap, Ace feels like crying.

Luffy’s still out. 

Law’s been left in their cell so far, the teen’s sitting up by the wall with closed eyes in what Ace thinks is a restless sleep.

His wavy-haired brother blinks and looks up at Ace confused. 

“Sabo. We gotta talk, “ He gets a nod, and watches in silence as his brother carefully moves to sit up. 

“What happened while I was asleep?”

“We.. We have to obey” Sabo blinks, and looks like Ace must’ve been replaced by an alien.

He doesn’t blame him.

“What?”

“We have to! Sabo, they… They hurt Luffy to punish us” Sabo’s face pales in record time and his eyes dart down to their sleeping brother. 

He nods. 

Luffy wakes not long after, and Ace doesn’t know how to feel about it, because he’s acting like nothings wrong, like he didn’t just have all his fingernails removed. 

He’d asked Law how that’d even be possible because Luffy was made of rubber, apparently this thing called seastone renders him unable to use his powers properly. Great.

Luffy’s called out of their cell that day, but he’s gone for little time, he’s wearing makeup. Seems like the bitch wanted to practice her makeup skills and used him for practice.

That night when Luffy’s bandages had been changed by Law, who had been coming and going in from their cell throughout the day, Ace notices black spots all over his little brother's cheeks and nose.

“What’s this?”

Luffy smiles a megawatt smile at him from where he’s sitting besides Sabo who’s getting his own bandages changed.

“I stole a marker, and while you said you got them from your mum, she’s not here, so I had Sabo help me make them!! You looked so happy talking about them, so I want them too, they make me think of Ace!! So they’re good!!” He says, and Ace is hit with a wave of love for his brother, he wants to crush him in a hug and never let him go, instead he ruffles his hair and blinks away the suspicious wetness of his eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> If you see anything that you feel look out of place grammatically, or just plainly doesn't make any sense, please let me know!  
> I do proof-read it, but I am but one man. I'm bound to have overseen something.
> 
> The ending fluff scene came from a conversatioon between my friend Tommy and I, and he ccame up with the idea of the freckles eheh!


	5. Can you feel it too? The kind of pain made out of real love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace tries to meet Luffy’s eyes, but all he sees are red and he can’t bring himself to look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! I hope to be done with next chapter soon, it's one of my favourite chapters and I'm looking forward to post it soon! Hopefully that'll make up for this short-ish chapter.  
> Warnings for this chapter:  
> Major character injury  
> Torture as punishment  
> Panic attack 
> 
> I don't own one piece~.  
> Also, I finished two of my AP bio projects and have caught up to chemistry, so I really hope I can post the rest of this story soon.  
> If all goes well, I should! No promises, though.

*** = Short timeskip

^^^ = Long timeskip

\----- POV shift 

Things fell into something resembling a routine for them.

Every morning a guard would come with ‘’breakfast’’ and water, then either Sabo or Ace or both would be pulled from their cell to do different types of work, though mostly it was labour based.

Luffy would be left alone, he was only pulled from the cell if the noble’s wife or daughter wanted to practice makeup or use him as a dog and taking him on walks in the gardens. 

Time passed with minor differences, in fact the only way they realised it’d passed at all was watching each other as they grew. 

Law was at one point moved into their cell, Sabo and Ace were puzzled at first (since they’d found out he only left his cage or quarters when his medical assistance was needed.) 

They realised very quickly it was because Luffy had taken a liking to the beta teen and had decided they were friends. The beta neither confirmed nor denied it, but knowing their brother they knew it was only a matter of time before the little boy wormed his way into the teens heart.

It was afternoon.

Since living in their cell, they’d decided on where to sleep early on. Ace tried at first to keep them separate, however it quickly got too cold for that so they ended up curling up against each other in the corner. When Law had been moved to their cell he’d refused to join, but Luffy would refuse his refusal and drag him over anyway.

Luffy had been called out that morning right after breakfast, he was returned quickly but now lay asleep by the beta’s thighs, who were watching Ace intensely. 

Sabo hadn’t woken up with them this morning. 

He was worried, his brother hadn’t been looking so good these past few days. Sabo and Ace’s hair had been cut rather badly by each other as it’d been getting long, and Sabo’s roots were showing, so they both sported rather short hair. Luffy had gotten Law to cut his with a pair of scissors he’d stolen (something their brother was getting a little too good at, it could cause trouble should he be caught), so his hair looked the same as always.

Of course, the beta had offered to cut his and Sabo’s hair too, but they both declined.

His brother’s dirty brownish hair was stuck to his sweaty forehead. There were tiny streaks of black it too amidst the hair, which told him Luffy's been checking him for fever with his own head. 

Their tiny brother still got Law to paint freckles on his cheeks, the beta in question had hypothesized it as a coping mechanism, Ace didn’t quite get it but he thought it was the sweetest thing ever.

Not that he’d admit it.

“What do you think is wrong with him?” He voiced quietly. He didn’t need to turn and look at Law to know that the Beta heard or would answer him, so he didn’t. He kept his eyes on his curly haired brother whose face was too red and whose breathing was too loud.

“Pretty sure it’s a cold.”

“Can you do something about it?”

“Not without the right herbs no.”

Luffy stirs by Law’s thighs, stretching his limbs and accidentally hitting the beta in the face.

Brown eyes blink to look at Ace.

“Are Sab’ gon’ be ok?” He asks, before getting up and sitting cross-legged by the cell bars.

“Colds are common. It’ll be easily treated. He’ll likely recover either way, but he can’t work like this. I’d ask for herbs, but doubt the guards gonna care.” 

Luffy’s frown deepens as he cocks his head, Ace’s seen that look on his brother a few times before, it happens when he’s in deep thought and trying to think of a plan.

It never ends well.

“I could steal some herbs when they come get me?” 

“You could, but we don’t know when that’d be. Could be tomorrow, could be later. Doubt they’re getting me today, so if anyone’s getting some then it’s most likely going to be Ace-ya.” 

Blinking for a moment, he mulls it over.

It’s true, he’s good at stealing (or at least he was living in the grey terminal,) 

But it’s been a while since the last time he’s done it. Luffy’s probably better at it than him now too.

“What kind of herbs do you need? I’ll look for them should they come get me.” 

“A couple of green leaved white flowers, they should have three ablong petals with a brown center, and one brown leaved plant with a green stalk. It’s leaves should look like a triangle with a few spots.” 

Dedicating the descriptions to memory, he nods.

They hear the door to their quarters open and one of the guards arrive. Predictably they’re here for Ace, who gets up and lets them put on his collar before leaving the cell. The guard doesn’t

say anything about needing Sabo, doesn’t even look at him, and Ace’s shoulder sags slightly with relief. 

Right now Ace and Sabo are the only alphas that aren’t pleasure slaves, so it’s usually them who do a lot of the labour work. They’ve only met one other slave besides Law, a beta woman who also doubled as a pleasure slave. Ace hasn’t seen her in a while. 

This time he’s set to do some lifting and sorting out cargo by the gardens, which is perfect, getting the herbs should be easy then.

He thinks sometimes that it’s a little weird, how they’re rarely supervised. The only times is when the nobles themselves need them, not even in their cells do they have a guard to stand watch.

Keeping an eye out for the herbs Law said he’d need, Ace makes quick work of loading and unloading the boxes of.. Whatever it is. 

He finds some in the corners of the garden, right besides a large rose bush, which could make great cover for him as he’ll swipe it - Grinning to himself, he knew it’d be easy. 

He snatches the herps and puts them into his pants and hopes they don’t fall out. He’d put them in his mouth, but he doesn’t trust himself to not chew on it.

Plus, he’s pretty sure Law prefers them without the saliva. Probably. 

The rest of his ‘’shift’’ (they call it that, but only because they don’t know what else to say. It’s an unspecified time-table, after all.) and the guard escorts him back to his cell. A lot of the guards forgo the leashes, seeing as they’re unable to escape anyway, but Luffy is almost always in a leash. Ace doesn’t know if it’s because they’re expecting him to run anyway, or because they’re treating him like a dog. 

Probably the dog.

In the cell, he sees that Sabo’s still asleep and still shiny with sweat. Luffy looks like he wants to curl up near their brother, but he sees the grip Law has on the younger’s shirt. Grateful, he walks over to the beta and pulls the herbs from his pants. He didn’t drop any, which is a relief.

Letting go of Luffy, the beta accepts the plants and nods at him. His brother nearly catapults towards Sabo, but Ace predicts the move and grips his wrist instead. 

“Luffy I get that you want to help Sabo, but you can’t go near him right now,” 

“Why not?” Ace snorts weakly at that. He’s pretty sure Law’d already explained it to him, but either the younger didn’t get it, or he didn’t care. 

Honestly it’s probably a mix of the two.

He sighs.

“Because Sabo is sick. If you get too close, then you’ll get sick.” 

“So? If that happens Tora-o can help me” He pokes his brother's forehead in exasperation. 

“Not if you get him sick too. Just let Law do his thing, you can be taped to Sabo as much as you want when he feels better” He tells him gruffly, offering a small apology to their curly haired brother. Luffy had always been clingy, but since arriving here it’s truly been upped to the max. He’s pretty sure it’s the uneasy, or maybe something else, he wouldn’t know, but there’s no doubt it’s to cope with their… situation. 

His brother stares him down, chocolate brown eyes pleading, a puppy-dog pout on his face, he hates how after all these years it still entices guilt in him.

But he will Not cave. Even though that damn look makes him really really want to.

After what feels like hours to him, but is probably barely ten seconds, the pout melts off and is replaced by an annoyed frown.

With a small growl, Luffy crosses his arms before turning and sitting in the corner. 

Ace sighs again. 

Ignoring his little brother (who’s also ignoring him), he watches as Law uses a couple rugs to grind the plants into a wet looking powder. Using his now discarded shirt, the teen pours the powder onto it, before lifting it and carefully depositing it in one of the glasses of water from this morning. 

Gently lifting Sabo, Law tilts the glass into his brother's mouth and helps him drink the medicine. When the glass is emptied, he uses his shirt and wipes off some of his sweat. 

Ace thinks of how despite gruff and cold the teen is, when he’s focusing on his work, his patient like this, all he gets is warmth. 

He’s glad he’s here with them, the beta has helped them a lot, even if he hasn’t really ‘done’ anything. 

He hopes, should they ever find a way out, that they’ll meet again on the seas. 

Sabo already feets better by that evening, and feels completely recovered by the next morning.

Ace and Luffy are the only ones being called for a shift that day though, which is weird because they’ve never been called together before. It’s always either him and Sabo, or either of them alone. 

He has a heavy feeling in his gut, that something is about to happen, but he doesn’t know what, so instead his eyes are going about while simultaneously keeping his brother in sight.

They’re being led by leash down through the gardens and towards a burgundy door next to a different matching door in brown. Luffy eyes the brown door warily, and Ace finds himself thinking he doesn’t want to know why. 

Stopping by the red one, the guard that’d picked them up knocks twice before entering the room.

It looks like an office with a lot of different chairs and desks, and a couple drawers.

There’s hooks all over the walls, he guesses it’s to attach collars to them that way, and it’s confirmed when the guard does that. From a brown door that looks like it leads into the other room, the noble's wife, aka rich bitch as he’d dubbed her in his mind, walks through. 

She smiles at them, in that creepy sadistic way they always do whenever there’s opportunity for punishment or ‘’training’’ as they call it.

“Thank you Gero. You can go.” Rich bitch says, the guard salutes before leaving. 

She stalks towards them, reaching out a black gloved hand to stroke Ace’s cheek in an imitation of tenderness. 

  
  


“So… You think you can steal as you see fit?” 

Ace tenses, and then realises his mistake by doing so, he’d practically just confirmed what she’d said. 

“Awe sweety, of course we noticed. You’re not as sneaky as you think you are. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna punish you. You’ll leave unharmed” She grips his chin, hard and forces him to look at her. He meets her eyes, they’re cold with fury but there’s a certain spark that really sends shivers down his spine like a bunch of cold water. 

That’s when his brain graciously decides to let her words sink in.

_ “ _ _ You’ll _ _ leave unharmed” _

She smiles a wide toothy grin when she sees his eyes wide in realisation. Letting go of him, she unhooks Luffy, who’d been watching her warily from the side, before pulling him towards one of the chairs that’s turned toward where Ace is standing still tethered tightly to the wall.

On the floors by the chair are ankle shackles that she hooks around Luffy who’s looking at Ace.

Ace want’s to rip himself loose, wants to rip the bitch’s throat out, he wants to do many things.

But.

The thing that’s stopping him from trying anything is his brother’s gaze.

Luffy’s looking at him intensely, and Ace understands the message completely.

_ “Don’t do anything”  _

It’s a warning fuelled by determination. A determination to do what, he doesn’t know, but he doesn’t like it. His crybaby brother doesn’t look afraid in the least. In fact, there’s a small smile on his lips that the woman, who’s bunching up Luffy’s shirt to hang around his shoulders, can’t see.

_ Is he trying to reassure me?  _

If that’s the case, it’s having the opposite effect.

Luffy shouldn’t have to do that, it should be Him who’s reassuring his brother, it should be Him in that chair, it should be Him who protects them.

Rich bitch walks to one of the drawers where she pulls out a weird stick with a bunch of wire stuck to it, and with what looks like shards of glass or other stuff tapered to the ends.

He swallows and tries to convey calm to his brother, but Luffy hasn’t looked away from him at all. 

He still doesn’t look afraid.

He watches in silence as Rich bitch swings time and time again, as blood cascades to the floor in red robes, as her whips get more and more ferocious - desperate, as the smile slowly transforms into a sneer.

Because Luffy doesn’t cry out in pain. 

Ace can see it hurts, but his brother doesn’t say anything or let tears fall from his wet eyes.

And that is honestly one of the worst things Ace has ever seen.

Finally, Rich bitch seems to realise she’s not getting a reaction from the child, at least, not the one she wanted. She throws the whip? Thingy aside and pulls a knife from a different drawer. She walks back to his brother and pulls his head up harshly by the hair, putting the knife to his throat.

His brother doesn’t flinch or look at her. She looks at Ace.

“Apologise and beg like the trash you are, or I’m slitting it’s throat right here.” 

Ace doesn’t doubt it for a second. 

“I-I’m sorry, p-Please don’t hurt him” 

“It”

“Wha?”

“It’s not a ‘him’, it’s an it.” She presses the knife closer and causes a trail of red to drip unto her glove.

Biting back the bile slowly rising in his throat. 

“P..Please don’t hurt it. I-I’m sorry for stealing. I won’t do it again just please. Please don’t hurt it” 

He says, and ignores the satisfied look in her eyes as his voice cracks. 

She lifts the knife off his throat, before she smiles and cuts a deep gash on Luffy’s face, earning a surprised yelp. 

He’s about to cry out, but he realises that’s what she wants. He bites his tongue so hard he tastes iron in his mouth.

Looking disappointed, she walks to the wall and presses a button. 

Ace tries to meet Luffy’s eyes, but all he sees are red and he can’t bring himself to look. 

A moment later and two knocks sound off from the door. The same guard who got them has returned.

“Return them to their box, have the beta look over Nanimo and get Pochi, as I’m taking it for a walk.” Rich bitch says, before looking at him.

“If you do it again, I won’t be so lenient, understand?” She says before turning around to leave. 

The guard walks to Luffy first and removes the shackles before pulling his leash, his brother sags behind him on wobbly legs. Ace wants to cry.

He trails behind them quietly, he’s not allowed to touch Luffy as the guard pulls them back to their cell, he’s not sure why but whenever he attempted the guard would slap away his hand. 

They do a quick pit stop to the slave-cabin to get medical supplies before entering the cell-hallway. When they’re in front of their box, Ace sees that Sabo and Law are talking, they look up curiously as Luffy gets his collar removed before he’s thrown into the cell, Ace and the supplies follow. He watches their shocked expressions, Sabo’s much more so, as they take in their brother's bloody wound-filled back. Law hisses out a curse and bundles up Luffy’s already ruined shirt in an attempt to wipe the dried and fresh blood off. 

Sabo and him quickly move out of the way to let the beta focus, and gather themselves in one of the corners. Sabo’s hands reach out, shakingly touching his shoulders and meets his eyes.

“Wha-what happened?” 

“They… They figured out I stole from the garden and.. She punished Luffy in my state as a warning”

Sabo’s eyes widen, a grim frown sits on his young face as he worries for their brother, and Ace wishes he could have done something to prevent this. 

But he can’t regret helping cure Sabo’s sickness, he can’t and he won’t. 

“They’re all bastards, knowing Luffy’s our weak spot, and we’re all guilty here, this is an example. I… I’m sorry, this is because I got sick” His curly haired brother rambles, but Ace places a hand on his mouth to shut him up.

“No, I don’t want to hear it, if Luffy did he’d punch you. ‘Bo. I. You, you don’t. Luffy he, he didn’t cry out or react, he just kept giving me a reassuring gaze telling me not to do anything, I-” 

He vaguely registers his brother’s voice but he can’t hear anything, all he can focus on is the burning in his chest, the heaving of his lungs and the sheer panic spreading like fire through his veins. 

Someone snaps their fingers in front of him and he realises he’s not breathing.

“Mimic me okay? Listen, deep breath yes that’s right. You’re doing good.” 

“Okay keep it going c’mon, in, out, follow me” 

In.

Pause.

Out.

Right, he can do this.

His head kind of feels like it’s been stuffed with lead and he blinks his stinging eyes, forcing them to focus on Sabo who’s face, itched with worry, is right in front of him. It’s blurry and he blinks a couple times more. He realises he’s crying.

“Ace? You hear me?”

He nods, still focusing on breathing.

“Good, that’s good” His brother looks relieved before he gathers him in his arms. Ace and Sabo don't hug often, and even then, it’s usually Ace that hugs to comfort his brother.

He can’t remember the last time it was the other way around.

Sabo slowly rocks them back and forth, his hands in his hair in the way they usually do to Luffy.

Ace accepts the comfort, drinks it in.

He falls asleep like that, surrounded by a rare sense of safety.

^^^----^^^

Sabo isn’t sure how long they’ve been with the nobles now, but he knows it’s been a good while. 

Law doesn’t look much like a teen anymore, he looks more like a young man, Ace and himself also look older. When he’d asked, Law’d said he’d guess they were around 13. 

Luffy, for all that he hadn’t grown, had changed the most so far. 

After that event back then, Ace had completely mellowed out in fear of retribution towards their tiny bundle of sunshine. 

Well, not like he’s much better either. 

Luffy never mentioned it. In fact, if not for the scars, he didn’t act differently at all. 

His brother now sported a scar stretching across his nose, almost reaching his right eye. He still drew freckles on his face to imitate Ace and honestly Sabo thought it was the sweetest thing ever.

It’s quiet in their cage, Ace’s been in a horrible mood all day, even almost growling at the guard when he came to pick up Luffy. Had Law not pinched him, he probably would have.

Needless to say, he was worried if something were bothering his (now) usual calm brother. 

When he’d asked, all he’d gotten in reply was a gruff growl. Sabo considered asking Law to help interrogate the grump. 

Though the beta himself looked like he wanted to ask Ace some questions, watching him with a careful and, dare he say it, calculating stare. 

He’s startled out of his thoughts by a cloth landing in his face. Growling, he glares at Ace who’s standing in his pants and those alone.

“What was that for?!”

“It’s warm in here” 

Maybe his brother’s getting a fever or something, it’s not hot at all in the cage. They don’t have a heating system. Yet, looking closer, Ace’s face and skin were flushed and his short choppy hair clammy with sweat.

“Ace-ya, could you sit here for a second?” Law says, patting the space in front of him. Ace nods dazedly and tumbles down. 

Sabo’s gut clenches in apprehension. 

Ace let’s Law’s hands turn his head gently, prodding with a couple fingers at his scent glands. Letting go, he hms before looking at him. 

He meets the beta’s gaze head on, not bothering to hide the worry that’s melting his insides.

“Right. His glands are swollen, they should recede in a couple days” 

The worry intensifies, what does that mean? An infection, maybe???

“Swollen?”

The beta links boringly at him. 

“Ah, right. What that means is that Ace-ya has presented.” 

Ace’s gaze widens to a comical degree that likely matches his own. Ace has presented?? He’s a teenager? Have they really been here that long already? 

“Well, what does it entail?” He asks the beta. Ace looks nervous and shifts closer to Sabo, he hears him sniff the air before he sighs in relief. 

“Just that he entered puberty. His instincts are going a bit hayware from the hormones and his scent is solidifying. The presenting itself is a lot more intense the first few days, so he might feel overwhelmed from it. It’ll pass soon.” He tells them and Sabo lets out a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding. 

He wonders, though, what this’ll mean for their ‘’shifts’’. Are they going to change it? Will they separate them? Will Ace become a pleasure slave like the other alpha?? 

With so many questions, he curls closer into his brother’s side, soaking up his presence. 

When Luffy returned later that night, his brother took the news with a surprising nonchalance, he didn’t seem worried in the slightest. 

When asked why, Luffy said that as long as they did as told they weren’t going to separate them. 

Sabo hated that his brother likely had a point. 

It wasn’t long after that, probably a couple months at most, that he himself presented. 

Ace had settled down quickly after a couple days, and Sabo really had to give it to him, he was feeling itchy all over and his gums were aching, his neck was incredibly hot to the touch and he was overall a sweaty irritated mess. He wows to not complain when Luffy presents.

He hopes they’ll be out way before then, though.

He tried to ignore the voice whispering in his ear, telling him he’ll never leave.

They Will leave one day, they just gotta be patient. 

He’ll make sure of it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you see something that doesn't make sense, or have any questions at all, feel free to ask! However, I will not be spoiling anything, so if I deem the question capable of doing so, I will tell you. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Also, current ages in case people are confused;  
> A&S = 13  
> L = 10  
> Law = 17, couple months from 18 (his birthday is in october I believe? If I remember correctly it's little under a weak from mine, so I've placed it around 7 or 6th Oct. I'll check it later when It's not in the middle of the night, but I'm pretty sure.)


	6. Crybaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The noble’s daughter is crying and putting on a show while her brother, who must’ve arrived at some point, is comforting her. The noble himself is watching Luffy with a calculating expression, but the now dried sweat doesn’t hide the stench of fear.  
> Something wet hits his palms and he doesn’t look down.  
> Doesn't need to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? An update this soon?
> 
> This was one of the reasons I wanted to write this!!!  
> A lot of things happens in this chapter, so much I was tempted to split it in two. If it's too much please let me know and I'll do that and rewrite some parts to (hopefully) fit better in that case. 
> 
> Warnings:  
> Torture as punishment  
> Fatal character injury and temporary character death  
> Mentions of medicinal experimentation  
> Talks of genitals  
> Talks of forced bondings
> 
> I don't own one piece:,)

^^^ = Long timeskip

*** = Short time skip  
\--- POV shift 

  
  


Luffy woke like he always did that morning, surrounded by his brothers and his friend. He blew some of his hair from his face - the scissor that he’d previously stolen had been returned and his hair had gotten longer than what he’d been used to. It was still short, but it was beginning to enter his eyes and it was starting to annoy him. Looking down at his sleeping brothers, he wasn’t surprised to see Tora-o was awake. The man (and Luffy might not be the brightest, but he could Tell that Tora-o was Not a teen anymore.) had taken to stay close to them till everyone was awake. He figured it was due to groggy mornings and a need for warmth.

Either that or a mystery, but he didn’t care enough to ask.

Stretching, Luffy ignored the instinct to look for his strawhat. When they’d first arrived he’d wake up nightly to look for it before forgetting he’d left it at Dawn Island. He knew that it was still there, waiting for him to return so he could fulfil his promise.

Instead he smiled at Tora-o, before walking closer to the cell bars where he’d sit and keep a look out for breakfast. 

As much as he loved his brothers, the cage was getting a little cramped with all of them in it. Tora-o were pretty tall, and Sabo had recently hit a growth spurt as well and was quickly catching up. Ace was taller than Luffy (but then again they all were), he had yet to really grow though and were still mostly just long legs and not quite there yet broad shoulders.

Footsteps and the scent of dirt and greed alerts him to their meals arriving. 

The cage is opened and the four bowls are carelessly put on the floor together with some cups of water. Luffy had gotten used to being sparse with his water, as that was all they were getting, unless they were doing a labour shift - then they’d get one more when done. 

While Luffy wasn’t frequently called upon to work, he was often brought out during one of his brother's shifts. He didn’t know if they realised, but it was to keep them and himself from acting out, and Luffy hated being a visible reminder.

But they weren’t gonna hurt his brothers as long as he behaved. He didn’t care that they hurt him, he’d rather it be him than them.

If he didn’t let them they’d separate them, and he doesn’t want to be alone in this place.

He eats his breakfast and hands Tora-o his share, the man nods tiredly at him and sits up to accept the bowl. Luffy often worries for his friend who smells like fear and blood during some nights, so he makes sure to be closer those nights should his friend need him.

The man in question hasn’t noticed. Or well he figures he hasn’t as he hasn’t said anything, so he’ll keep doing it. 

He lightly pokes his brothers cheeks to wake them up for breakfast. 

They don’t know when someone will come get ‘em after all.

Ace growls weakly, snapping his teeth at Luffy’s finger that’s still poking him. 

Sabo blinks his eyes open before yawning and sitting up, rubbing his face.

“Breakfast here?”

“Yep!”

Luffy turns to pick up Sabo’s bowl and passes it to his brother who mumbles a quiet thanks. 

He picks up Ace’s as well and gives it to the grumpy teen. 

Looking at his brother’s face, he’s reminded he needs to redo the spots again. Tora-o had attempted to stop him from continuously drawing them on his face as it apparently wasn’t good for him, but how could looking more like his spotted dark haired brother Not be good? He didn’t get it, so he didn’t listen. 

He did wonder what was up with that gaze Ace’d get whenever he caught his brother looking at the spots. He didn’t recognise it, and he’s 102% sure that if he asked, he wouldn’t get an answer. 

So he didn’t.

After they’d all finished breakfast, Luffy went to a dusty corner in their cell. He went there every day after a meal to practice writing words Sabo's been attempting to teach him and Ace. His other brother didn’t have as much time to practice as he himself did, but on lucky days they did it together. 

Tora-o would often join in, too and help Sabo, seeing as the beta was almost always in the cage anyway. Luffy felt bad for his friend, it must be lonely. 

He wondered, not for the first time, what exactly it was he did for his few shifts. He’d said he oversaw the plant servants (or something) but Luffy didn’t remember much else. 

He’d like to have Tora-o out on a shift with one of them some day, so that he didn’t have to be alone in the cell or with just one of them. 

The door and footsteps alerted him to the guard coming back again. Either it was for one of them, or for the bowls. 

He gathered the empty bowls and put them by the door to their cell. The guard gathered two collars from the hanger outside. Ah, so here for two today, then.

The man pointed at Ace and himself, which were a surprise. Very few times were Luffy brought with only one of his brothers, he wondered briefly if he was to sit and be that visual reminder, or if they just needed extra hands with something. Either way, he went up and let himself be collared. 

Being led down the doorway by leash, he and Ace entered the main house where the nobles lived. Maybe it was cleaning duty? They’d done a few of those.

Entering the huge dining /throne room, the guard placed Luffy’s leash in the noble’s hand. It seemed it was only him and the daughter, who were handed Ace. 

“Allright Max, you’re going to be cleaning the floors with this toothbrush, and if you miss a spot… Well, you can guess what happens,” She said, looking at Luffy briefly.

Luffy fought back the urge to bare his teeth, nothing good would happen. Not to mention the walls were lined with guards.

She went and sat on her throne, Luffy sat on his knees by the Noble’s chair who, along with his daughter, were snickering at watching Ace clumsily try and clean up the dirty (was that mud?) floor with a toothbrush, 

Ah, so today they were the entertainment.

That had happened a few times, one of them would be given an impossible task just to punish one of them as a result. Luffy knew that the nobles knew that Ace wouldn’t be able to clean up all that mud off the floor with a toothbrush, and he knew that was intentional. They brought him here to hurt him. That was fine. 

There was no way his brother hadn’t realised, and Luffy’s heart ached as he watched him desperately try and scrub the dirt away. 

Luffy himself had never really thought about it, how this must happen all the time, how his brothers must be pushing themselves outrageously just so that he would be safe.

He didn’t like it.

The show went on for a while, and the floor didn’t get cleaner, Ace got more desperate, so Luffy waited patiently for when his brother would look up so he could convey a small reassurance.

When he finally did, he watched as Ace’s expression seemed to waver when catching his gaze.

That had happened before, but Luffy didn’t understand why.

He knew his brothers, Ace especially, would be angry if he tried to protect them, but he wasn’t really protecting them like this, so it didn’t count, right? No need to be angry. 

“Alright stop, stop, Max isn’t listening to my order. Seems like we need to do retribution.” The daughter said, smiling as she stood from the throne. Reaching for her belt, Luffy realises she's been wearing a classic whip. They don’t hurt compared to other whips, so this’ll be a piece of cake.

Is what he thought, anyway.

He soon realises his mistake, because Luffy isn’t being taken to a different room. Luffy’s shirt isn’t being bunched up, there’s no attention on him at all.

Because it’s on Ace.

Ace, who’s sitting on his knees with _His_ shirt bunched up and _His_ back exposed, when it should’ve been him, been _Luffy_. 

Why are they doing this when he’s here? 

The whip startles him, the sound, a familiar sound, of it hitting skin makes him bite his lip.

He can’t look away, and he feels his eyes burn, why is he crying? He’s not supposed to be crying, he’s supposed to sit still and not react and take the pain, so _why_?

Is 

Is this His fault?

Is this his punishment? What did he do?

Maybe it is, maybe it’s not, but Luffy can’t stop it because he’s too _Weak_

Which doesn’t make sense, he’s not supposed to outright protect them, he’s not supposed to do anything yet right now his skin vibrates with the need to do something- 

Is he really that pathetic and weak that he can’t even protect his brother, his family? 

Has his brothers been doing this all along, taking the hits from him and letting him think he’s helping, when in reality he’s only being a clingy mess? When all he’s doing is whining and drawing spots on his face?

Is that it?

His vision blurs and groans echoes in the room.

It makes sense.

He has to stop this.

He can’t do anything like this, he can’t protect anyone. 

He can’t become the pirate king.

The blood in his veins feel like it’s boiling and becoming living fire spreading throughout his body.

It doesn’t matter what he has to do, he will be the one to protect them. 

His head feels heavy and his vision is blackout on the edges, all he sees are Ace, Ace who is looking at him so desperately and scared and vulnerable, and Luffy _Can’t_.

**_Won’t_ **let this continue.

He gives himself up to the screaming of his insides and feels something give.

\--------

Ace knew the moment the bitch gave him the task was that the outcome was him watching Luffy get hurt again. He didn’t know Why, didn’t think he’d done anything wrong, but then again it’s likely they just Liked watching them hurt like that.

He was only a little surprised when it was Him that earned the whipping. 

Both him and Sabo’s been whipped before, so it’s not like he didn’t know what to expect, though usually he’d hold back any reaction and be patient. Though this time he didn’t, he knew she wanted him to scream, if he let himself react, she’d stop quicker and then Luffy wouldn’t have to see this.

He meets his brother’s eye for a moment.

Luffy looks frozen with disbelief and anger slowly etching onto his face. His mouth is open, slack jawed, and his eyes are darkening at a rampaging frequency. 

Ace feels his heart speed up in trepidation, but for what, he doesn’t know.

The sounds of the whip slapping against his skin moves to the background as the faint low growls make themselves present in his mind, making his instincts scream _Danger Danger Danger_ at him. A ferocious snarl splits the air in the room and Ace’s head snaps up in surprise and watches as his brother rips himself loose (the leash actually fucking _breaks-_!?) and launches across the room, a clawed hand lifted and ready to strike, he lands and manages to Hit the bitch daughter, who recoils with a loud screech- 

The room is completely frozen as everyone is standing shock still, Ace stares up in disbelief at his brother who’s standing in front of where he’s kneeling, his little brother who’s growling and snarling at the daughter and Ace doesn’t want to admit it but the image downright terrifies him.

She lets go of her arm and picks the whip back up, Luffy crouches and dangerously bares his teeth, hissing a snarl as he prepares to launch again. 

Noticing movement out of the corner of his eyes, he realises the guards have come back out of their stupor and are quickly gaining movement towards them, swords and spears glinting in the indoor lighting. 

Luffy jumps again, left arm rising up to strike and Ace feels someone holding his shoulders down. 

Because the hit doesn’t land. 

He’s pretty sure he hears the low ‘thud’ of something landing near his feet, but the sound of screaming makes itself much more clear to him.

Probably because he’s the one that’s screaming he realises.

Luffy’s held down on the floor, blood seeping out and darkening the marble quickly, too quickly, and Ace fights against his restraints because how much blood does a person have again? 

The noble’s daughter is crying and putting on a show while her brother, who must’ve arrived at some point, is comforting her. The noble himself is watching Luffy with a calculating expression, but the now dried sweat doesn’t hide the stench of fear.

Luffy’s grumbles have stopped, his brother’s laying still in a pool of blood, he’s looking pale and Ace feels himself short circuit. Something wet hits his palms and he doesn’t look down. Doesn’t need to.

The guard lets go of his brother, whose eyes are still dark and unseeing. 

“Sire, do you want us to dispose of it’s body?”

He hears himself whimper, and with shaking hands attempts to crawl towards the noble.

“No… Please..” His voice cracks and the shaking intensifies,” He’s not dead, please. Please save him, you can do anything you want with me, just… Save my brother” He bows his head, bares his neck in submission to the noble. He ignores the sticky slowly drying floors, just focuses on putting everything he can, everything he is, into his request.

“Sire, you can’t possibly be thinking this over. This animal is dangerous! You saw the way it attacked Orena-Sama!” 

“Silence. I agree, this one is too dangerous of an alpha, it has an emperor's spirit. However. I have plans on what we can do. Get the main house doctor.”

“N-not the beta?”

“No, this one is at death's doorstep and it’s too valuable to lose.” Ace lifts his head and watches guards file out of the room in haste. He wants to crawl over to his brother, wants to bury his face in his brother's chest and reassure himself his heartbeats still there and to be lulled to sleep by steady breathing.

  
  


They return quickly with an unfamiliar man in a white coat surrounded by what he guesses are nurses. They gather around his brother, and grimaces.

“It’s lost far too much blood. Body is in shock, prepare for a blood transfusion immediately.” 

“What blood, sir?”

“Do we have any OF or S left? We don’t know this one’s blood type.”

“I don’t think so, we haven’t stocked up in a while” 

Shaking himself from his stupor, Ace speaks up with a rough voice. Offering something he’d never think he’d ever do.

“Take my blood. Please, you can have as much as you need”

His blood is his greatest shame. It’s a curse, flowing through his veins disgustingly slimy and dark in its history - if he could claw it all out he would.

But he’s sure Luffy and his body somehow can purify it. His brother is the human incarnate of the sun.

“Just save my brother” He holds out his arms. His restraints are removed and the doctor nods at him.

He lets himself be manhandled to lay down besides his brother’s still body. His head is turned so he can watch Luffy, whose eyes are closed halfway and glazed over. 

“Cauterize the wound so blood won't seep out.” The noble orders and a guard passes him a torch. Ace blanches.

“Well it’d certainly be quicker than doing stitches. Alright someone hold down both.” 

Ace wants to tell them he’s not going to do anything, he knows his brother’s going to be in pain, but if it’ll save his life, he’ll let them do anything.

Turns out the restraints aren’t needed on either of them, because Luffy barely reacts to his stu-wound. To his wound being cauterized. 

The stench of burning flesh already haunts his dreams, yet it doesn’t make it easier to breathe it in.

But he’ll hold out for Luffy.

“Nurses prepare blood! This one’s heart’s stopped!” 

  
  


Ace feels his own heart stop. 

No way.

His brother’s not dead.

Luffy’s going to be alright, he tells himself as he blocks out the sounds of chest compressions.

He doesn’t even feel the pricks of needles in both his arms. 

His head feels hazy and stuffed with cotton. He doesn’t care if he dies as long as Luffy’s saved. He doesn’t care if they’re emptying gallon for gallon of blood, it’s fine. 

He closes his eyes and makes peace with it, thinking of sunny days in huge forests. Of fake freckles and large D-grins, curly hair and laughter. The scent of warmth and oceans, salty air near a cliff coast. 

The taste of sake and the clinks of red cups.

His greatest treasure.

“We have a pulse! Start the transfusion!” 

Forcing his eyes to blink open, he glances at his side where Luffy’s laying, watches his brother’s chest rise and fall slowly. Wetness gather at the edge of his cheek and on the bridge of his nose -oh right. He’s crying. 

Hah, what a crybaby. 

Guess Luffy’s no longer a crybaby himself, huh?. 

“Escort Max to it’s cell and get Nanimo to the operation table. We’re going to test out MU2E090393.” 

“The one Joker manufactured?”

“Yes. If it works, then this one’ll be the most valuable slave to date” 

“Understood.” 

Ace is pulled up rather roughly from the ground. He doesn’t fight, doesn’t have the energy to do so, just follows staggerly behind the guard and thinks of the vision of Luffy breathing. 

Getting closer to their cell, Ace picks up scents of worry and confusion from both inhabitants, he realises Sabo must’ve smelled them coming. 

The guard removes his collar and shoves him into the cage, he’s caught by his brother who exclaims his name in shock.

\----

When Sabo’s nose caught the scent of a guard and, who he guessed were Ace, he hadn’t thought much of it. 

When the strong odor of blood hit him full frontal? That’s a different story. 

Law’d noticed his demenior stiffen and immediately asked what was up, the medical beta likely guessed from his reaction that someone had been hurt.

“I.. I don’t know. I can smell Ace. And.. Blood. Lots of it” 

They both waited tensely in the seconds it took for them to reach the cage. 

Ace was shoved in and Sabo nearly missed catching his brother because his attention had been someone else.

Seeing as his brother’s shirt was hanging limply from his shoulders, stained with blood. Ace’s complexion was pale, far too pale, and the inner sides of both arms were bandaged. 

His face was full of crusted dry blood too, and his cheeks were wet. 

“Did they hurt you?” He asks. Law went to the medical supplies that the guard had apparently returned with, as well as two? New shirts. 

Ace doesn’t answer, he just looks at Sabo’s face dazedly. His brother’s eyes are red. 

“He seems pretty out of it... “ He says outloud for the beta to hear. Their friend gently pulls Ace from his grasp and pulls off the rest of the blood shirt. He moves out of the way and lets him examine his brother. 

“He’s been whipped on his back, they appear more serious than they actually are. However, he shows signs of extreme blood loss.” He levels his friend with a look, because that last bit is pretty obvious. Ace was covered in blood on his face, knees, hands and splatters on his chest. 

“Well anyone could look at him and see that” He tells his friend as much.

“N’t mi’n” Ace mumbles and startles him, his brother’s eyes aren’t focused on either of them. 

“Ace?”

“Luf” 

If it was possible, he’s pretty sure his entire body froze up on the inside.

He looks to the beta, and hopes, prays, he’s misunderstood somehow. 

Law looks at the blood splutters with a grim face.

“What happened to Luffy?” He asks his brother, whose eyes widen and glistens over with more tears.

“S’my fault” 

“What is?”

Heaving a choked breath, tears spill in waterfalls down his brother’s face. His freckles stand out on the pale wet skin.

“To ‘tect me'' Ace's eyes find his own, and it’s blaringly obvious to Sabo that his brother isn’t seeing him right now. He finds overwhelming sorrow, guilt, shame and hate in those wet grayish brown pools. 

His brother’s full on bawling now, something he’s never seen him do before.

“Th’y took ‘it, ‘ey too’ hi’ ar’m” He says in between cry fuelled screams, his hands coming up to tear at his hair. 

Sabo can’t bear to watch it any longer and sweeps in and crushes Ace to his chest. Letting his brother cry and scream as much as he want, accepting the wet and snotty patch on his clothes. 

He doesn’t mind it. 

Somewhere during the hug, his own cries join the chorus. 

****

Three days pass till they see Luffy again.

Ace hasn’t said anything, hasn’t done anything except for sitting hunched in a corner and hugging his knees to his chest. Sabo’s been forcing his brother to drink water (especially because of the blood loss,) but he hasn't had any luck with making him eat. 

Law’s been keeping an eye on him, and apparently Ace hasn’t slept, either. 

Sure he passes out now and then in that same position, but he startles awake shortly after. 

When the guards arrive the second time that day, he hears Ace sniff the air and sees his head snap up with a snarl.

The guard is carrying Luffy by his hair, and he’s been clothed in an oversized long sleeve shirt they haven’t seen before. Ace stands up too quickly, and meets the bored looking guard by the open door and all but pulls their brother from his hand with a toothy growl.

He pushes Luffy, who seems to be unconscious, into his chest and rumbles - a comforting sound that Sabo has very rarely heard from him. Before lowering both of them to the floor. Ace is staring shock still on the ground, Sabo worries for his mental state, he doesn’t look entirely.. Present, for lack of a better term.

“Ace? Will you please let him go so Law can take a look?” He tries. When his brother doesn’t respond, he moves to touch him but is stopped by the beta.

“Don’t Sabo-ya. His alpha instincts are in total overdrive right now. Blood or not, you’re also an alpha, he might perceive you as a threat.” 

He pretends that doesn’t hurt to think about, he listens and keeps his distance instead.

Law carefully enters Ace’s vision and waves a hand, his brother eyes him warily with narrowed eyes.

“Please let me have a look at Luffy-ya, Ace-ya.” Law says and bares his neck in submission. It’s weird, he thinks, that doing something like that would actually have an effect on instincts older than they are. But it works, Ace’s lips relax and he straightens his back, before blinking confusedly. 

“That’s good. Now, let go” Law’s gentle but firm voice guides him and carefully loosens his grip. Luffy is laid before the beta, and Sabo’s eyes widens in horror.

Because Luffy’s left arm is gone. 

What’s left of it is from the bicep and up, covered in bandages. He keeps his eyes on his brother’s face as Law examines him. The beta stops with furrowed brows by Luffy’s glands. 

“His scent glands are extremely swollen.” Sabo leans in to get a better look.

He’s right, even he can tell. Touching them carefully, they’re hot to the touch and pulse with a heartbeat beneath his fingertips. 

“Is he presenting?” He asks, but something isn’t right. He’s not getting any alpha-telling scent from his brother. Taking a tentative sniff, the usual warm sunny-days ocean smell that hits his nostrils, while the same… It’s different.

The warmth is almost overpowering the ocean, carrying hints of ripe fruit on beaches. 

“Law.. His.. His scent. It’s changed,” 

The beta looks at him questiongly.

“But it’s not alpha.”

He says that outloud, for all that he doesn’t believe it. His little brother was born an alpha, has been alpha their whole lives. This shouldn’t be possible. Isn’t possible. 

But it is.

Because his instincts are telling him that his brother isn’t an alpha anymore, they’re as confused as he is.

“It’s omega” 

The beta’s eyes widen comically, his jaw goes slack in surprise.

“Wasn’t Luffy-ya born alpha?”

“He was”

“Then… Then how? I’ve never heard of anything like that happening” 

“Me either. But that’s the way it is,”

Law curses, hands returning his prodding. 

He checks Luffy’s eyes, glands, back and mouth before sitting down with a hand on his chin, mumbling to himself what he guesses are theories. 

In the meantime, he moves his brother’s head to his thighs. Luffy’s nose twitches and he turns his head to bury it in Sabo’s stomach. He smiles and pets his hair, it’s getting long.

Glancing at Ace, who’s looking at Luffy, he looks confused and still not exactly there, but definitely more aware than earlier.

The beta snaps his fingers and catches their attention. 

“I think I have an idea. Or well, I’ve got a couple. Though this is the most likely.” 

When Law doesn’t immediately continue, Sabo cocks his head. 

“Go on?”

“Right. So all of Luffy-ya’s biologically tellings of his rank are all acting up. His scent glands are extremely swollen, so are his gums near his mating teeth, waist and lower back. I’m guessing what’s been done is that he’s been given some sort of HRT in the forms of injections.” 

“HRT?”

“Hormone replacement treatment. I’m guessing they forcefully injected some sort of Omega hormone serum, not sure, but it was definitely coupled with some sort of enzyme that likely destroys the alpha hormones. Your rank hormones are made in the scent glands, the proteins there making them however must’ve been… removed somehow, likely by another type of enzyme, and then they must have planted some omega-Rna strings into the cells to create proteins to replace the hormone creating proteins.”

Right, he didn’t understand what that meant at all, but it made sense? Probably? 

“You don’t look like you get it at all”

“That’s right” 

Law groans, the man rubs his forehead in what he daresay is fond exasperation.

“Ok, they gave him something that replaced the alpha in your brother with omega. His body is playing catch up and changing his biology accordingly. Luckily he hasn’t presented yet, or else he’d have died.” 

Again, it made sense. He trusts Law’s word, so he nods. 

But wait.

Why would they do that?

The nobles bought them because they were alpha, why’d they go and turn Luffy into an omega? 

“They..” Ace begins, both him and Law startles as neither had realised he’d been paying attention.

“They.. Luffy, he. The guards wanted to let him die” His brother’s voice cracks a couple times and he doesn’t meet their eyes, his palms shake where they’re clenched together in his lap. 

He looks tired.

“They called him dangerous and.. They were right to, he… I’ve never seen him like that” 

“Like what?”

Ace’s eyes turn to their sleeping brother. If Sabo didn’t know better, he’d call the look in his eyes fear.

“He snarled and attacked the daughter. She.. She was whipping me, in front of him. I don’t know what happened, one moment he was looking at me and the next he’d snapped his leash and lunged at her with a growl so ferocious it made me want to cover and hide. He didn’t even stop growling at them when he was b-bleeding out” He speaks so fast Sabo barely understands what he’s saying, his eyes glisten and his brother is shaking as he hyperventilates. 

Law’s quick to go in and help calming him down from his attack. 

He thinks over what Ace said. 

Luffy, their clumsy little brother, careless and sweet in that upfront bratty-way, who’s way too trusting and takes it as it comes. 

He sees it. 

Luffy’s always been determined, hell his brother had been tortured as a seven year old to tell on them, but he didn’t cave. It doesn’t come as a surprise that if his brother wanted to protect Ace, then he’d damn well protect Ace, no matter the cost. 

He’d bet his own arm that Luffy wouldn’t be upset about that. 

But again, that brings the same question back to his mind, if they thought Luffy was dangerous, why bother turning him into an omega? Why save his life?

“Why’d they do it?”

He says outloud, but doesn’t direct it at anyone. 

He doesn’t look up at them either, his attention is focused on his snoozing brother who’s drooling on his pants. He couldn’t hide the fond look on his face even if he tried. 

“Do… Do what? A-attack him?”

He shakes his head lightly.

“Turn him into an omega, you mean?” Law says. He nods.

“I just can’t wrap my head around it. The noble bought us for our alpha status in the first place. And now they apparently think Luffy’s dangerous, but they save his life and turn him into an omega - why? Why’d they do that?”

“The nobles don't know the differences in alpha and omega. Almost all nobles, especially those that deals with slavery, view the two ranks as dominant and submissive.”

“Dominant and submissive? What does that mean?” Ace asks.

“Alpha and Omega both have more… primal, instincts, and a long Long time ago, omega were used for their easy reproductive systems, and Alpha were used for their ‘’superior’’ strength and bigger psyche. Thus it was believed that omega were by nature submissive, and alpha dominating. Of course the truth of it is very different. Omega and Alpha have similar, very similar instincts, but they’re rooted differently. Alpha are built differently, you could compare them with a tank, while Omega are more like… A gun? Perhaps, as in, the alpha’s strength is superior and their size are normally big. Omega are more sleek, but they’re quick. Of course, both can train the other aspects, and it’s different from everyone.”

He won’t lie, he kind of lost the point somewhere in the large amount of information.

“What?” 

His brother seems to share his opinion. 

Law sighs.

“Do I really need to simplify it for you?”

“Yeah” 

He’s not looking, but he can almost feel him roll his eyes at them.

“Noble’s think omega exist for reproduction and are weak. Alpha exists for strength and dominance. With me so far? Good. Not the actual case, Alpha and Omega are equal, only with slightly different instincts and bodies.”

Right, that made way more sense.

“Why didn’t you just say so?” Ace asks the man.

“I was! Not my problem neither of you listen.” 

“Honestly man you have a habit of going into too much detail sometimes. I once asked you what you thought of the food, and you told me all about where you think it might come from.” 

He snorts, Ace had a point. 

The beta grumbles at them.

“Anyways!” He gruffly tries to redirect their attention.

“If the noble think Luffy’s dangerous as an alpha, they turned him into an omega as they likely think he’ll be easily controllable. Not to mention they also think that omega and alpha can only birth omega and alpha, and since they already know Luffy comes from an all-alpha family… “

Oh.

OH.

Shit.

“They’re gonna use him as an ultimate breeding machine” He says and finally looks up. Ace’s already pale face has somehow gone even paler in horror and realisation. The beta just nods grimly. 

“We have to get out of here” His brother says, and while Sabo wholeheartedly agrees, he’s still stuck on how. 

“There’s no way Luffy would let them.. Do something like that, he’d be killed.” 

“Calm down Ace-ya. They can’t do it yet, Luffy-ya has to sexually mature first and that’s not happening until he’s above 18. I wonder though. Male omega and Female alpha are both able to conceive with others, but for Males getting pregnant, and for females causing pregnancy, both rates of succession are quite low.” 

“What do you mean? Why is it different?” Ace asks. 

“Well. When a male omega presents, they will develop a womb, which is used to carry children in Ace-ya, and a specific birth canal near their prostate. For female alpha, they will develop a pseudo penis and semen. It resembles hyena females.” 

“Do I want to know why you added that last bit?”

“It’s interesting. Us humans are so consumed by biological sexes and gender roles we le-”

“Right. Back to the point, please.” Sabo interrupts before the man starts rambling again, and, frankly, all the genital talk makes him uncomfortable.

They both had a good idea of how.. Sex worked, as Law’d sat them down one day while Luffy wasn’t present and given them a long and.. Explicit talk. 

“Right. Well, they do have other omega here so I’m pretty sure they’re going to force a bond with him.” 

“A bond? What?”

“Right, you wouldn’t know.”

“Short and to the point, Law.” Ace says.

The man glares.

“Alpha and Omega can be bonded with other Alpha, Omega and with Beta. Bonds are connections, and there’s two types. A simple mark, and a Bond. We all have mating teeth, which are connected to your glands. For beta, our glands are located on our wrist. When you bite someone, special cells from those glands enter the other person's gland. This alters their scent. That’s a mark, and someone else can easily overtake it and erase the previous mark. Beta can’t be marked in the same way as Omega and Alpha can as our glands are too small to host cells.”

“Ok. So. Mark equals one person is bitten and emits the scent of the biter?”

“Correct.” 

“And a bond?”

“A bond is when the person who’s bitten bites the biter in return. It’s permanent, and because every person involved hosts someone else’s cell that also hosts their cells, it creates the effect of knowing where they are instinctually.” 

“Bonds lets you know where someone else is if you’ve bitten them and they’ve bitten you?”

“Precisely. Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”

“Shut it sideburns” 

“Wait, you can have more than one bond?” Sabo asks and interrupts their upcoming argument.

“Yes. And more than one mark, too. If there’s skin available and isn’t scarred, someone else can place a bond or a mark. If there’s no room for it, then they can’t.” 

“And that bastard would force it on Luffy?”

“Oh definitely. Every omega here are marked by him and bonded with one of the alpha. So he’ll always know where they are, even if they get away.”

“That’s-”

“Horrible? Yes, it is.”

“At least we have a while to think of something? Before he’ll.. Do it to Luffy?”

“Honestly I’m surprised he isn’t marked yet.” 

“What?! It’s possible now?! But he hasn’t presented yet!”

“Yes. He has glands, so it’d be possible. The reason why it hasn’t been done is likely because it’d cause an infection in them because of the.. Injection.” 

“So when his body adjusts…?”

“They’ll be marking him, yes.” 

It’d be a metaphorical and literal chain to this place. 

**---**

It doesn’t occur to him that he’s awake at first. 

His head feels heavy and stuffy, his nose hurts and he’s assaulted by a bunch of intense, too intense really, smells from all over the place. 

He tries to lift an arm to rub his eye, but blinks in confusion when he realises he can’t feel it.

_ Is it asleep ? _

Lifting his other hand, which he finds he can feel just as fine as his legs, he tries (and fails) to block some of the overwhelming scents.

A tan and pale hand enters his vision, but it’s so dark he can barely make it out.

He’s pretty sure he knows someone with unique skin like that.

“Luffy-ya?” 

A quiet voice calls his name. He sits up groggily, leaning on his arm as the other’s still asleep, and turns towards the voice. Righ, they’re in the cell. 

“Tora-o?” His voice is incredibly scratchy. 

“How are you feeling?” The man asks and passes him a glass of water. 

“Head stuffy. Throat achy.” 

“I see. You’ve been asleep nearly three days now. Do you remember what happened?”

He’s missed meals?! 

Maybe he was sick, he certainly feels like that. 

Yet, there’s something that tells him he’s forgetting something important. So he tries hard to think back. Closing his eyes in concentration, what’s the last thing he remembers doing? 

_ Skin, blood, pain, Ace, must protect PROTECT stop- _

Wide eyes snap open in panic and scan the room. 

“Ace!? Is he okay?!?” He asks Tora-o. 

The man sighs.

Seeing movement in the corner of his eye, he spots his brothers sleeping side by side by the cell bars and sags with relief. 

Or well, they were sleeping.

Sabo’s head springs up in alarm, probably because he was being loud, but the moment they lock gazes his brother’s frame shakes with relief, he hurries, stumbles really, over to him and gather Luffy in a hug so tight that if he hadn’t been rubber he’s pretty sure a few bones would be broken.

He realises with a start that Sabo’s crying. 

A wet patch by his collarbone and his brother’s shaking frame makes his instincts scream at him to do something, and while this isn’t new - he’s never felt it be this.. Ferocious before. The need to completely eradicate the threat to his kin’s wellbeing, he feels almost bloodthirsty, something he’s never felt before.

He needs to soothe, focus on soothe, be the pillar, make sure he’s okay. 

He lifts his not-sleeping arm and trails the teens shoulder slowly, while rubbing his cheek on the other’s short curls. He feels his chest vibrate, but it feels right, so he doesn’t question it. The hands clinging to his back slowly stop shaking, and he hears quiet barely there sniffles.

He feels him letting go, and Luffy lets him take a step back. His eyes are red as he rubs them.

“Are you okay, Sabo?” He asks him, he’s never seen his brother like this.

If anything, his question makes him tear back up. What did he do wrong? He feels a stab of guilt, also something he’s rather unused to, as his instincts flare up again in distress.

His brother gives him a watery smile, but his eyes look heartbroken and Luffy, for the life of him, can’t fathom why. 

Maybe it’s the meals? Luffy’s upset he missed 9 meals, sure, but he’s not  _ That  _ upset anymore!! 

“I’m fine Lu.” He says, and he doesn’t believe him. Not one bit.

But if he wants to share, he’ll share. Even if he really wants to pry, he’s not going to.

He nods mutedly. 

“You Idiot!” He feels someone barrel into him, also crushing him. 

“Ah, Ace! Are you okay??!” Ace crushes him to his chest carefully and Luffy’s awake arm doesn’t know where to put itself, it stays off his brother’s back as if it were magma.

Ace doesn’t cry, doesn’t shake, all he does is hold him to his chest and breathes him in. 

Luffy wonders for a moment if something serious has happened, it’s rare that his brothers hug him and not the other way around.

“Ace?”

“Stupid selfless selfish bastard of a brother. Don’t you Ever do that again!” His brother growls at him, he sounds angry but Luffy recognises it as his worry anger rather than anger anger.

Both his brothers finally stop crowding him (not that he minded, their presences are always soothing.) and share a glance. 

“We need to talk to you about something important, Lu” Sabo opens up, and Ace carefully grips his… Sleeve? 

Wait, what? 

How… How come he has an empty sleeve hanging limply by his side? 

Oh. 

“Did I lose an arm?” He asks, voice neutral. They both freeze, and Ace flinches like he’d been shot. 

“Hm, so that explains the hugs” He voices his thoughts aloud as it enters his mind.

Ace whirls on him so fast Luffy stumbles back a bit.

“ _ That’s _ what you have to say about it!?”

His brother looks angry, but not at him.

Is he angry at himself?

“What do you want me to say?”

He looks like he’s been punched in the gut, his upper lip lifts and exposes sharp teeth in a snarl.

“Why aren’t you angry!? You lost your arm!” 

“How?” 

He flinches again and Grayish brown eyes dart around the room nervously.

“I.. You.. “ His brother hesitates and chews on his lips, he still won’t meet his eyes and Luffy realises it’s the same look he had back then, back when he’d been taken by Porcelain.

“Did it happen again?”

Ace meets his eyes then with a shocked turning confused frown.

“What?”

“Like with Porcelain?” 

It’s silent for a moment, he uses it to search Ace’s eyes and face for any clues, but he comes up empty.

It’s Sabo who breaks it.

“Do… Do you mean Porchemy?”

“Right, yes. That guy” He was so certain his name was Porcelain though. 

Maybe he’d changed it? Hm.

“Uh, no? What do you mean by that?”

“Well back then you two got really angry worried because I didn’t give away the treasure. So I figured something similar must’ve happened?”

Sabo sighs and rubs his forehead.

“Luffy, this one’s on me. You lost your arm protecting me.” 

Ace says and Luffy’s shoulders slack in relief.

“Really? That’s good, then” 

“That's not good! Seriously how aren’t you angry? You should be screaming at me!” Ace snarls at him. He doesn’t bother hiding his smile, he was worried he’d let something about their heritages slip or any other secrets they may have, he’s so happy it wasn’t anything serious like that.

“Why would I be angry? If Ace is alright then all is good! I’d do it again. I have two arms, but I only have one Ace.” 

He recalls Shanks having said something similar to him. He gets it now, when he meets the man again he’ll thank him.

His brother has that heartbreaking look in his eyes again and Luffy wants to reach out and soothe, but he doesn’t think it’ll be well received right now.

Sabo gently reaches for his empty sleeve and pulls him to the corner where Tora-o is sitting. They all sit down in front of the man, who looks at them curiously. 

“Are you really not upset, Luffy-ya?”

“Nah” Why do they keep asking him that?

“Interesting.”

“What was it he said… Right, it’s just an arm. It’s more important to me that Ace is okay and alive”

Tora-o looks confused. Luffy smiles at him.

“So what’s there to talk about?”

The man blinks away the confusion. The air turns serious around him, and Luffy thinks he might not like whatever it is.

“Lu.. Listen carefully. Losing your arm.. Isn’t the only thing that’s happened”

He makes a vague sound of affirmation that they have his attention.

“We’re not gonna explain the hows to you, doubt you’d get it, but you’ve been turned into an omega. You’re not an alpha anymore.” 

Ah, that must be why he felt different. 

“Alright” He nods at them. Was that all?

“Luffy, do you get what that means?”

“I’m an omega. You just said that”

“Well, yes, but..”

“What’s the big deal, then? Is being an omega bad? Why?” 

Sabo and Ace sigh collectively. 

“Luffy-ya, being an omega isn’t bad. But it means the noble is going to forcefully mark you.” 

“What does that mean?”

He tries his best to listen as the beta explains the differences between a Bond and a Mark, and he thinks he understands the grim atmosphere now. However, he still has some questions.

“Can’t he mark alpha too? Why haven’t he marked either of you?” He asks his brothers. 

“He can, but I don’t think he knows he can. The noble is a beta, and his way of thinking is pretty old school. We’ll use this to our advantage, of course.” 

Right, a mystery, then. 

“I don’t want to be bonded like that, isn’t there a way to remove it?”

“A mark can be overridden, but a bond can’t.” 

If that’s the case, then wouldn’t it be best to make sure he can’t be marked, or bonded with?

“What if we get rid of my scent glands?” 

He traces his right gland with his hand, feeling them pulze.

“We could completely scar them over, but they’d still technically be there. If we removed both, you’d likely get very sick as a result. Your glands produce important hormones that help your body function.” 

….

“So, that’s not an option?”

“No.”

“Damn. Hmm.” 

“If I'm bonded, can I still be marked?”

“If there’s visible skin, then yes”

“What do you mean? Why is it different from scarring them over?”

“In your saliva there’s proteins produced by your glands that act as a seal for the mark. If it’s a bond, the cells adapt quickly with the exchange. If someone foreign bites on the scar tissue, the enzymes that are produced in the cells from the biter will destroy anything that enters.” 

He nods, another mystery. 

“So, we just gotta do that, then!”

His three cell mates all stare at him with a dumbfounded expression, they look at him as if he’s grown a second head.

“What?”

“Don’t ‘’what’’ us, what are you talking about??”

“Bonding. If we do it before he can, then he can’t!” 

Why is that so hard to understand, he’s pretty sure he made himself clear. 

Maybe they’re all idiots.

Ah, but Sabo’s pretty smart, and Tora-o, too.

Hm, maybe they’re just tired?

“You.. You want… To bond? With who?”

“You guys”

“What!?”

His brothers are staring at him, mouth open in surprise and disbelief. 

“Do you even know what you’re saying!?” Ace asks.

“Well, if you bond with me then he won’t be able to do it.”

“Luffy we’re brothers”

“So?”

“So, they call it a Mating bond. You know. For mates!?”

“That’s now what Tora-o called it.” 

“You want to mate with us”

“No, I want you to bond with me. It’d be like our brotherhood bond!! Always with us”

“What if you find a mate in the future?”

“I don’t want a mate who wouldn’t understand this”

Sabo’s jaw shut with a click. Luffy can tell he’s won him over.

“I think it’s a good idea, Luffy-ya. At least, it is in these circumstances.”

“I’ll do it, but only on one condition.” 

He looks at his dark haired brother, who’s leveling him with a serious look.

“I’ll go before you. Deal?” 

He smiles a big toothy grin.

“Deal!”

“Ah, how do we do this?” He directs his question at the beta. 

“Right. Let’s do it now before anyone comes and sees you’re awake. 

I’ll direct you. Who wants to start?”

“I’ll go first,” Sabo says. Tora-o instructs his curly haired brother to sit on his knees with his shirt off. He points at the exposed gland and tells Luffy where to bite.

“It’s important that you don’t stop till you taste copper. Your teeth are slightly smaller than your brothers, so it might take a couple minutes. Raise your hand when you’ve pierced skin, and I will tell you when you can let go. Understand?”

He nods. He’s pretty sure he gets it, bite down, taste blood, raise hand. It’s simple. 

Leaning in, the scent of his brother fills his nostrils and he instinctively calms down, he breathes a silent apology knowing it’s going to hurt, and bites down as hard as he can.

It doesn’t take long (he thinks) before the warm liquid lands on his tongue, he raises his hand. 

Barely ten seconds past before Tora-o tells him to let go. Working his jaw off his brother’s gland, he licks it and watches the newly formed wound scab over.

He doesn’t know why he did that, it felt like he had to.

Oh well, it’s done.

“Good job Lu” Sabo says, standing up and putting his shirt back on. 

Without being told, Ace arranges himself in the same way their brother had before.

Tora-o still watches, but doesn’t tell him what to do this time, so he repeats his actions. 

Giving another silent apology, he bites down the second time that night. 

It takes maybe a little longer till he tastes the copper, but he raises his hand, and let's go after ten seconds, licking the wound shut. 

He doesn’t say anything, he takes off his own shirt (with a little help from Sabo. Turns out his stump is still actually kind of tender.) 

And sits on the floor. 

He let’s Tora-o’s careful fingers show his brother’s where to bite so they cover all of the gland, and tells them it’s likely they’re gonna have to bite a couple times to make sure.

Their teeth are a lot more developed than his own so it should be quick, the beta comforts. Or at least tries to. Luffy doesn’t mind the pain all that much, not if he gets his goal of never being available to that creep.

The pain is more like a sting, instant and warm. It reminds him of being whipped, but a lot more gentle.

It barely takes a minute before his brothers raise their hands and they’re instructed to let go. He feels their tongues on his neck and tries very Very hard to not laugh. It’s ticklish.

It's been done.   
  


Tora-o goes in to do an extra check and make sure they’ve got every last bit of the gland covered, it turns out he was right and needed a couple more bites, but before long his glands are both completely scarred over.

“I hope you three realise that when they find out you’re going to be punished.”

“That’s fine, as long as I’m not bonded irreversibly to that bastard” 

The beta chuckles.

“Then I suggest you get some sleep. Considering what tomorrow’s gonna bring.” 

They listen to the beta man’s words, and Luffy, while knowing that the nobles are very willing to do so, can’t find it in himself to regret it, because he’s sure he’s made the best choice he could. The lesser evil, if you will.

As he settles in between his brothers, he thinks he vaguely hears Sabo mumble something about a time limit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, good news... We're almost to the escape chapter...OuV  
> Also I did end up cutting some of the stuff out in the end for next chapter, which should hopefully be up either this week or next.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	7. Fire of unknown origin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The skin is hot beneath his fingertips. He lets himself study his brother’s face, something he’s never really thought off, and takes in the details of tan skin that has gone pale from years without sunlight. 
> 
> Ace cries, he almost sounds like he’s grieving. Luffy’s hand goes away from his brother’s hair for a moment and put’s Ace’s hand on their sleeping brother’s face. 
> 
> 'See? Sabo’s not gone, he’s still here.'
> 
> Is what he tries to convey, but for some reason it sounds like Ace is crying harder now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Here's the new chap!  
> Warnings:  
> Torture  
> Self inflicted injury  
> Talks of pleasure slaves  
> Mentioned Suggestive entertainment  
> Mentioned Underage suggestive dancing  
> Mentioned Underage touching (no genitals involved)

*** Small time skip  
^^^ Big time skip  
\------- pov shift

When Luffy woke up to the smell of food, he was surprised to see Ace’s head on his chest, and a hand right beside it, clutching his shirt. Sabo, who looked to to have been awake for a while, was sitting in the corner and talking to Tora-o. 

He was almost tempted to go back to sleep when he remembered what’d woken him up in the first place. Carefully, he tried to sit up, but his brother’s grip on his shirt tightened. He also realised Ace had wormed his other arm beneath him, and were encircling his stomach.

His grumpy brother had never been touchy feely, in fact he’d always complain about it whenever Luffy was being clingy. Though he suspected it was half-hearted, seeing as he could very easily remove him forcefully if he’d really wanted to.

Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what had been going on in his brother’s head for him to go and do this. He didn’t mind it, but it was unusual.

He’s not gonna ask though, he knows Ace wouldn’t answer. 

Lifting his arm, he gently prodded the black haired teen. 

Sabo’d stood up to meet the guard by the door and get their meals. 

Watching his eyes and how they traced the newly formed markings on his brother’s neck, he knew they wouldn’t have long to eat before someone would come for them. 

A little less gently, he jostles his brother again. This time he gets a few mumbles, so he keeps going.

Lifting his head to glare at him, Ace blinks tiredly.

“Wha?” 

“Breakfasts here, guard left to notify the nobles. Eat quick” He says as he watches the other groggily sit up and stretch. Ace doesn’t comment on the position at all, which makes Luffy wonder even more if it was intentional, or if he’s just acting like nothing happened.

And, knowing him, both could very well be a possibility.

They all eat, and Tora-o doesn’t comment on it. The beta sits by himself in the corner, but when the doors slam open in haste, he levels them with a quiet ‘’good luck’’. 

Three different guards arrive, they all don’t resist as they stand by the door and have their collars fastened. 

They speed-walk down the corridor and towards the main house, and stop in the throne room where the noble and his wife are standing, looking outraged. 

They’re all brought to kneel before them, Luffy in front of his brothers, and he doesn’t react as cold gloved hands roughly pull his head upwards by his hair. Fingers prope by his glands beneath the collar, and he hears the man hiss.

“Those shits did it. They marked it.” 

They hear the wife gasp.

“How's this possible?!? They’re related, it should go against their instincts.” She says, he’s not sure if it’s supposed to be an actual question or not tho.

She walks up and grabs Sabo by the hair. 

“This one’s marked too. Guessing Max is as well.” She says and kicks his brother. 

Luffy steels himself not to react, even if he Really wants to.

The noble crosses his arms and looks at one of the guards.

“You. Ask the beta what happened.” 

Luffy wonders for a moment why he didn’t just ask them, but then realises the noble probably wouldn’t believe their words.

“Yes sir” 

They’re still kneeling and not meeting anyones eyes as the guard comes hurrying back.

“Well?”

“It said that last night when Nanimo woke from it’s fever, the alpha went scent crazy and couldn’t control themselves, and their pheromones drove the omega to return the bond. The beta guesses it’s a byproduct from the hormone treatment we must’ve given Nanimo.” The guard says, and he does his best to not react or be relieved, Tora-o’s smart and they trust his word so hopefully this means they’re safe.

“I see. That explains it, then. I knew this one would be an invaluable asset as an omega. Still though… We have to make sure they’ll never do it again. Instinctually.” 

Chill runs down his spine as he recognises the man's tone, his instincts scream at him to protect his brothers, but he can’t - if he just loses control again then they’ll definitely kill him and then he won’t be able to protect them at all. So for now, he must bear it.

“Bring Pochi and Max to my office.” He says, he watches as his brothers are lifted away from him and curbs the urge to follow. 

“Return Nanimo to it’s cell.” He starts, but the wife holds up her arm.

“Actually, put it in my office. I want to teach it a lesson.”

The noble studies his wife before snickering.

“Alright. Have fun with it.” 

\-----

It’s not the first time either of them have been in the bastards office, and he’s sure it’s not going to be the last. 

He’d been prepared for the worst - They had all been, but Law had decided to cover for them (he’d always admired the beta’s ability to BS, it reminded him of his own) and right now he’d damn well kiss the guy. He can’t help but be relieved. 

They’re both surprised when the noble enters the room and has the guard remove his collar. Ace eyes the other warily, and Sabo feels a sense of dread coiling itself in his gut.

The guard hands him the remote, and the noble smirks. 

“Alright Pochi. I want you to go and stand over there by the white cabinet.” 

Sabo listens. The man pulls out an unlit torch from one of the drawers, and lights it easily on a pad on the counter. He walks to Ace and hands his brother the torch.

He lifts the remote.

“You two see this? It’s the remote to your collars. The red button here unlocks them, the green button locks them. This purple button? Detonates them.” He points to the button at the bottom of the remote. It’s blinking.

“The red and blue buttons don't work on all collars at once, but the purple button does. I’m sure you understand what I’m trying to say?” He grins a toothy, disgusting smile.

And Sabo does. He and Ace both get the message.

‘Do as I say, or every collared slave dies, including your brother’.

They’d both planned to obey either way, but if the noble felt the need to point this out to them, whatever it is he’s going to do… It won't be good.

“Max, your job is to deal out the punishment. Use the torch, and burn Pochi’s face.” 

Ace jolts and turns his head to stare at the man sharply, Sabo can tell his brother is fighting showing teeth, and the man makes a show of putting his thumb on the detonate button.

With short, shaking steps, he walks towards Sabo.

“Pochi, kneel.”

He kneels.

Ace stops in front of him and looks down, he meets his brother’s wet gaze.

He reaches out and places a gentle hand on short curly blonde chops, tugging his head upwards. Sabo closes his eyes, he’s scared, very much so but he can’t imagine just how afraid Ace must be right now. So he makes an air of calm around him. 

“I’m s”

“Don’t. It’s okay” 

Whispers are exchanged between them, and Sabo feels tendrils of heat slowly closing in on his left side, curling around his jaw and closing in. 

He feels Ace’s hand shake.

“Hurry it up!” The bastard yells and startles both, Ace moves his arm too fast and Sabo feels white hot pain cascade from his jaw to his forehead - his brother curses and removes the torch quickly.

“Once more.” The noble barks, and Sabo fights the urge to scream, he’s almost unable to think, he cranes his neck to the side and meets the torch accidentally. 

He bites down on the inner side of his cheek hard enough to draw plenty of blood. 

“Enough.” He opens his right eye, Ace looks like he’s drowning in guilt. 

“It’s not right” He whispers, and Sabo’s hands fly up to stop him, but he’s too late.

Ace runs the torch on his right wrist and lets it roll upwards, he manages to reach the inner side of his elbow till Sabo has the torch knocked him his hand.

He’s about to yell when the guards are back and restrains them both.

“Let this be a lesson. You’re not your instincts, if you ever feel like losing it again, remember this.” He tells them both. 

Sabo barely remembers to nod, the adrenaline rush has run out and he feels dead tired and in pain, every movement he makes jostle the burnt skin. Ace has his jaw clenched and refuses to meet his eyes.

“Escort them back to their box. Let the beta look at them.” 

“Yes, sir!” 

He feels himself being collared again, before they’re harshly pulled back towards their cage.

When Sabo feels more alive, he’s So going to kill Ace. 

He’s surprised when he doesn’t smell Luffy in the cage, and if he’d be able to concentrate, he might’ve been more worried.

He passes out as soon as he feels cold tiles beneath him.

\-----

Well, this is new. Luffy thinks, as he’s being strapped face down to a bed in the wife's office (he doesn’t remember the bed ever being there, but it’s kind of hard to deny it when he’s on it so)

He can’t see where she is, the only sound she’s making is the click of her heels, and when she pulls open random drawers or cabinets, but she’s only done it twice. He has no idea what she’s gonna do. 

He’s happy his stump isn’t strapped in too, as the skin still feels pretty sore. 

The clicking floor gets louder as she gets closer, he guesses she must’ve gotten what she needed. 

The bed dips with her weight as she sits beside him, the air is chilly where his shirt is being lifted up, letting his back riddle with goose bumps.

She trails a gloved hand from his neck and down his spine.

“Now now don’t be afraid. I do this with every cute omega. You’ll be fine.”

Her words aren’t reassuring. 

He bites as much blanket beneath him as possible, knowing that whatever it is she’s going to do - it’s gonna hurt. He doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction by making sound.

Something cold caresses the skin of his lower back. He’s felt it before, and knows it’s a knife.

Clenching his jaw, he waits for the pain to start. 

It’s not much at first, it feels more like a clawed finger trailing his skin in a distinct pattern, but as the pressure increases his skin gives, and wet warm trails of blood run down his sides.

He doesn’t scream, even as he feels her go deep in annoyance. 

It’s a battle, and he knows he’s the winner out of the two.

“Pathetic. An omega is supposed to scream, maybe the injection didn’t work? Oh, well. We can always try again. My husband thinks you’re gonna make him very rich, but all I see is a glorifying cum rack. Not surprised your alpha brothers couldn’t keep it in their pants. Lucky for them my husband is forgiving, but they’re replaceable. You’re not.” 

He’s not really listening to her, the fog of pain clouding his head, but he manages to register the last bit, and he freezes with that realisation.

Because here, that’s the truth.

That’s why he wasn’t the one being punished for the mark. 

That’s why they saved his life.

He’s not replaceable but his brothers _are_.

If that’s truly the case, and he might not be smart, but he’s like incredibly sure it is, then this.. This’ll give him an opportunity to protect his brothers.

If he can keep the attention on him.

The noble wants to use him for something, and if he does a good job and is actually useful, wouldn’t his brothers be spared? 

By gaining that favour, then whenever his brothers acted out or were to be used as entertainment, then He could act out and distract the nobles, getting punished in their places!

It’s perfect!

He’d give his brothers, Tora-o, too, everything he can give. If it means they’ll be just a little safer, or as safe as possible in this place, then he’ll gladly offer up all that he can. 

He’ll become their pillar, their support for once.

He’s gonna stop relying on them, stop being weak. 

The determination pools in his gut, hotter than the crusted blood on his back. 

He’s gonna protect them.

It doesn’t really register what's happening around him till he feels his leash being pulled and they’re heading down the corridor. 

When he sees his brothers, both wearing bandages, he more or less jumps into the cage. 

He starts with Sabo, who looks to be asleep, and gently cups his face, wary of the bandages covering it. 

The skin is hot beneath his fingertips. He lets himself study his brother’s face, something he’s never really thought off, and takes in the details of tan skin that has gone pale from years without sunlight. 

His fingers trace his jaw, nose, eye and lip, familiarizing himself with the feel of the skin. 

He turns to Ace, who’s watching with sorrow-filled confusion. Luffy guesses his brother is affected by Sabo’s state of being. With a small smile, he cups his other brother's face.

Ace’s eyes, warm brown with spots of gray, downturned and watching him intently. He traces his finger from his glabella and down to the tip, going to open lips and stops by the chin, before slowly going with the jaw to his ear, and into his hair. 

Ace’s eyes are wide and glazed over, Luffy smiles a reassuring smile before guiding his brother’s face to his neck. He strokes his dark mop of hair and rumbles deep in his chest, portraying calm airs around him. 

Ace cries, he almost sounds like he’s grieving. Luffy’s hand goes away from his brother’s hair for a moment and put’s Ace’s hand on their sleeping brother’s face. 

_See? Sabo’s not gone, he’s still here._

Is what he tries to convey, but for some reason it sounds like Ace is crying harder now.

***

Over the course of the next few months are weird, if slightly un-interesting.

Every morning he’d wake up with Ace’s head on his chest, and Sabo on his other side. He’d then sneak out from under his brother who’d complain in his sleep, to wait by the door and accept breakfast each morning. A while after, he started to be able to tell who was coming and what they wanted by looking at them (no, really. He wonders if it’s omega instinct or something) He growled instinctually at the guards that wanted to harm his brothers or friend, but didn’t do anything. Of course, when he did this near the nobles they’d sew his mouth shut for a few days. He didn’t mind, as it just meant his plan was working.

Not long after that he presented, and with that brought a whole new entourage of scents. He’d thought it was intense before, but clearly he had no idea. 

Ace and Sabo would always react to his scent. He noticed it was calming, so he’d started to leave them his shirt if they were left by themselves or together with Tora-o in their cell.

He was very surprised when him and Tora-o were picked up together one day, his brothers looked confused as well, but the beta man didn’t question or looked surprised, so Luffy figured he knew what was going on. 

They were pulled the opposite way from the door towards the main house and instead entered the other halfway that led to the other house adjoined to theirs. 

Luffy was put into a wide room, the guard took off his bomb collar and told him if he left the room the door would sound an alarm, and he’d detonate the collars on all slaves.

The room itself was of wooden floors, white bare walls and with a couple cabinets in the corner. 

On opposite of him, were a large mirror, and beside it, a brown door. 

He had no idea why he was brought to this room, alone and uncollared. Deciding to play it safe, he walked to the middle of the room and sat down on his knees. 

A short while later and the door opened. Looking at them discreetly, he guessed they were women around the age of Tora-o. Not that he knew how old the man were, but he knew he was an adult and these people looked like adults as well.

They were all in a similar state of dress - beige coloured loose fitting clothes, bare feet and like him, uncolarred. 

Three in total, the tallest of them with long dark hair and a single bite on the left side of her neck. The one beside her had green hair with bites on both sides, and the last had brown hair with no bites. 

Luffy wondered what they were doing there.

The black haired woman glared at him from where she was standing, figuring this was another slave, he turned his head and returned it full on.

“This kid? Really?” The brown haired ‘’whispered’’ to the green haired who snickered. 

Standing up and stretching, he walks towards them.

Studying them, he can tell they aren’t here because they want to, and they have some sort of task. They’re all uncomfortable around him, and the black haired woman is an alpha. 

She not so subtly pushes her companions behind her and steps up to meet him, she’s tall and uses it to her advantage, glowering down at him.

“So, you’re the new omega?” She asks, and she sounds polite but Luffy detects venom behind her words.

“What’s that to you?” 

“Oh, they didn’t tell you what they were doing to you?” 

“Do I look like I know?” 

Her lips pull back in an annoyed snarl, but Luffy recognises this as posturing and not an actual threat. 

He meets her stare head on. 

When it doesn’t have the desired effect, her face relaxes and some of the annoyance bleeds away. She sighs, and asks him to sit down. Her companions join her.

“I’ll explain it to you. Can’t say I’m surprised they didn’t tell you. Our names are Flower, Petal and Stalk.” She says with a monotone voice.

“I’m Luffy.” 

Her eye twitch.

“They named you Luffy?”

“My parents?”

“No, our owner.” 

“Oh. Nah.” 

The annoyance is back.

“What did they name you, then?”

“Hm, dunno. Wasn’t paying attention. Don’t care, either”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, because the woman, Flower?’s lips pull back in an actual snarl and she growls at him. 

“How couldn’t you care?! They took your identity from you!” 

“I’m still Luffy. No matter what they do, that won’t change”

“Just you wait and see when you grow up. They’re gonna use you, you know.” 

“Not gonna be here till then.”

“You’re never getting out, he’ll find you.”

“Nah.” 

She laughs, a heartless cold mocking sound.

“Isn’t the proof on your very neck?”

“Huh? No, these aren’t from here.”

She blinks in surprise.

“What? You haven’t been forced into a bond yet?”

“No-pe. They can’t do that, there’s no space for it.” He cranes his neck slightly to make it easier to see. She stares. 

“That’s… I’ve never seen an unmarked omega here before.” 

“Well I am bonded, just not to anyone here. Anyway, why are we here again?”

Her anger leaves her, and Luffy thinks he recognises the look of jealousy and want when the three look at him. He gets it, having freedom taken away like that can’t be fun.

The woman takes a deep breath, and her mask of calm is back.

“Here, when an omega or a female presents, they’re forced to do work on the side until they sexually mature. The work consists of performances, both publicly and private. The three of us are the main performers, and teach every new dancer should they come.”

“You gonna teach me how to dance?”

“That’s right. After a few months, or when we deem you ready, you will join the dancer team and work nightly shifts three or more times a week depending on how popular you’ll be with our clientele. However anyone can order a private session any time, where you’ll receive specific instructions for your performance.” 

“Ok, let’s go!” He stands up and pumps his arm in the air. The three girls stare at him in shock, but he’s pretty used to reactions like that so he doesn’t say anything, they can think what they want.

^^^

The years (he thinks they’re years) go by fast.

Turns out, his rubber limbs and flexibility makes him a good dancer once he’s got the moves down. He figures he’ll be able to use it for fighting, as some of the dances they teach him feels like martial arts. 

His hair has gotten longer as by popular demand by his customers, and his outfit is altered every 4 months or so, currently he dances in dark red flowy see-through pants with slits all along the sides that end by his ankle braces. He wears black short shorts, and a high-collared sleeveless sheer top that fades from dark red to red. His clothes may change a lot and vary, but the high collar is ever present. His arm is adorned by gold bracelets and cuffs around his bicep and wrist. Lastly, a gold collar around his neck and a matching leash that’s attached to a golden belt, that match his golden ear studs, looped around his waist. 

He’s one of the main dancers, and even more so for private sessions.

During those, he’s often instructed with slowly removing an article of clothing. Whenever this happens, his clients tend to touch his thighs or legs. The first time it happened he nearly kicked his client. When he’d returned to his cell that night, Sabo and Ace had been growling as they rubbed the vile scents off him vigorously. 

  
  


He’d just gotten back from his latest private performance. 

For a while, his routine had been to be escorted back to the cell, put on some clothes, let Ace and Sabo rub away the scent, and give a report to Tora-o.

The reports had started maybe a few months or so back, where the beta man had asked him to watch his surroundings whenever he had a private session with a client, as the rooms were placed different places around the mansion and, sometimes, slave housing. 

So every time he came back he’d give an accountant of what he’d seen during his outings to either the beta man or Sabo.

Finished with his scenting, Luffy walked to the beta man ever present in his unofficial corner of the cell.

“Back! You ready for the report Tora-o?” He sits down and crosses his legs. He feels and scents Ace behind him, who reaches out and plays a little with his hair. Luffy’s the only one of them who gets showers and has his hair brushed frequently, the other three keep their hair short so it doesn’t tangle. Ace liked practicing braiding on Luffy’s long hair, but most of the time he just played with it. He didn’t mind either way. 

Whenever it was the three of them and Ace did that, Sabo would always grumble about needing a box of hair dye as soon as they were out of here. It always made them laugh.

“Actually Luffy-ya, there’s no need.” 

“Oh?” He asks. He didn’t know why the beta asked in the first place, nor why he’s stopping now. 

He sees Sabo sitting down between them.

“Yeah. Thanks to you Lu, we have an escape plan.” 

Luffy’s eyes widen and Ace’s fingers stops. 

The beta smiles, it’s the most wicked smile he’s seen from the man to date.

“And it all depends on you.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soon...


	8. Where do you go when you die in hell? (I guess when I get to you, time will tell)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a little more than two weeks, closer to three, and Law tells them “It’s time.” 
> 
> He pats his brother’s head, who’s standing awkwardly head down and eyes averted, Ace can see them from here and they have a silent glint of danger in them.  
> “That’s a good bitch” He says, and crosses his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeeee boiiiiiii  
> It's what y'all have been waitin' for.
> 
> Warnings for this chapter:  
> Minor character death  
> Violence  
> Feral behaviour  
> Blood  
> Talk of loss of limbs

He snuffs out the hope that’s daringly starting to fizzle.

_Wait till you’ve heard about it first, idiot._

He continues to thread his fingers through his brother’s hair.

It’s a habit he picked up when it started to get long, it always helped remind him that yes his brother was _there_ and _alive_ and _warm_.

And not on a marble floor flooded with red and staring lifelessly at hi- nope. No. Not going there, Luffy’s fine.

Or, well, fine-ish.

He acts mostly the same, but Ace knows.

Luffy’s changed.

And Ace will probably blame himself forever for letting it happen. 

Sabo hasn’t acknowledged it, but he knows that his brother’s noticed, he’s just avoiding the subject. 

“Me?” Luffy asks and tilts his head, Ace adjusts his grip on the hair.

“Yes. You’ve done a good job letting us know about the interiors of the place. I’ve only been around the slave quarters, never to the main house or out of it.”

“So? What is it you want me to do?”

Sabo clears his throat. 

“Law and I have worked out a plan together. As I said, the key player here is you.”

Luffy nods impatiently. 

Ace feels nervousness boil in his gut, something that happens whenever the idea of Luffy acting out becomes a topic. His little brother’s been through enough.

He tugs lightly on his hair, before lifting Luffy to his lap, letting the teen lean against his chest. 

At least he’s wearing a shirt. 

His brother has for a while now been leaving them his shirt, they weren’t sure why at first, but Law guessed it was for the scent. Luffy had been looking out for them, and he hated it.

Whenever his brother walked around bare-chested, which were pretty often now, all Ace would see was the reminders of his failures.

The slave brand.

The arm.

And on his lower back, the omega symbol (Which the beta pointed out). 

When Luffy had come back with that etched into his back, the boy hadn’t told them, he’d been too focused on staring at their faces with an accepting look of doom in his eyes - it was then Ace realised he’d lost his little crybaby brother who would always need them.

Luffy had just smiled and assured him everything was alright, and of course the bastard didn’t realise he was worried for Him, and thought he was worried for Sabo. 

Which, yes he was, but that was on him. Luffy, looking at him with that air of self sacrifice? He couldn’t handle that. He’d truly grieved the loss of his brother, even though he was right there physically. 

Ever since then, Luffy never hugged them. He let Ace hug him in his sleep (He couldn’t fall asleep without listening to his brother’s heartbeat or else his dreams were full of red) and let them do whatever they wanted.

Once Sabo’s alpha instincts had gotten so overwhelming he almost hurt Luffy, and Luffy didn’t do anything to stop it, he had smiled and looked so forgiving that Sabo bit down harshly on his own hand to stop himself. Ace had never seen his curly haired brother cry and apologise like that, and all Luffy did was caress his hair and let Sabo crush him to his chest.

He missed it, his clingy crybaby of a brother. 

“Our advantage is that everyone here thinks omega are weak. The guards that come here routinely of course know you’re not, since you defy them pretty often, but most explain it away as your status of born-as-alpha. We’re gonna use this. This is very important Luffy-ya, so listen.”

Dark hair tickles his chin as Luffy nods.

“I want you to slowly for the next few weeks until I give you a signal to start averting your eyes from the guard, and lower your head.” 

That’s… weird. He wants Luffy to look away?

“You want me to look away?”

Sabo smiles gently.

“Yes, I guess you could say that. But slowly. Every time you’re picked up, you stare down the guard right?” Luffy nods again, hand coming to rest on Ace’s wrist. Likely an unconscious action. 

“All you have to do is slowly stop that, and then lower your head completely till Law gives you the signal.” 

Luffy hums, and Ace feels his fingers being played with. He lets the hand Luffy’s toying with rest on his brother’s thigh as he’s thinking.

“I can do that, yeah. Why?”

Law sits straighter.

“It’ll make you seem like a submissive omega. As in, you’ll be playing into their ideals. When the man picking you up starts acting arrogantly, likely going to comment on your behaviour, and his guard has lowered, then you need to incapacitate him.” 

Luffy’s fingers stills. 

“What do you mean?”

“You’re usually picked up at night by one guard, correct?”

“Yes?”

“And when it’s the man with the green belt, it’s private sessions?”

“Mhm”

“When he comes for you on a night you have a private session shift, I will give you a signal. When he opens the door and is about to collar you, then you Need to incapacitate him at any cost. You’ll have taken him off guard and should be easy enough. Steal his weapons if needed. Just be sure he can’t move. Then Sabo-ya or Ace-ya will take the remote that controls the collars. Then, Luffy-ya and I will head to the other quarters for the pleasure slaves and deactivate the collars before opening the cages. Luffy-ya, thanks to you we know which way to go to get out of here and into the forest surrounding the mansion.”

Ace had to give it to them. It was a plan, a good plan. 

“That.. actually sounds like it’d work.” He tells them as such.

Sabo smiles and flusters.

“Well that’s all we have so far, we don’t have anything on what to do from there, but honestly just getting into the forest and out of here seems like a huge step.”

“We’ll figure somethin’ out. Good job, you two” He says and they both smile at him. 

“Think you can do it, Luffy-ya?” Law asks his brother, who’d been silent for a while.

“Oh yeah. Let’s do this!” Luffy grins at them, Ace encirles him again and hugs him to his chest tightly. It’s a comfort, more than he’d ever thought it’d be.

“Okay, we start tomorrow. Remember, keep going until I give you the signal.”

“What’s the signal?”

“I’ll tell you on the day.” 

“Alright,” 

It was late, they usually went to sleep right after Luffy came back from his shifts, so he figures he may as well just head to bed. 

He doesn’t need to say anything, his brother gets up from his lap and lays on his back, arm lifted. Ace takes the open invitation, lays down and places an ear on his chest, the steady thud thud thud calming him down like nothing else, and shortly after he’s asleep.

***

Watching the plan slowly unfold is… Interesting. 

Luffy, true to his word, pulls off the act of ‘submissive omega’ fairly well.

He slowly, each day, averts his eyes a little before he’s completely avoiding the guards eyes. He does it no matter the guard, and Ace once again is surprised at how well he can pull it off, for someone who can’t lie to save his life.

He wonders what’s motivating him.

It’s barely been a week, and the guard that usually picks up Luffy at night for a performance or session is slowly getting this air of superiority to him. It makes him want to bite off his face.

When Luffy starts to lower his head, the guard can’t help himself and comments on how “It was about time, good to see a bitch realise what they are”. Sabo growled at him but was silenced by Law.

Around two weeks, Ace himself almost lose it when he says “Can’t wait till you mature, maybe the boss will let me use you for a while, you seem like you could take a lot without breaking” 

Luffy himself didn’t get it no doubt, but he did and if that dick so much as touch Luffy then Ace is ripping him in half.

And it finally happened.

It’s been a little more than two weeks, closer to three, and Law tells them “It’s time.” 

They all understand, and when the door opens that evening and Luffy tells them it’s just the usual, they get into position. 

Luffy in front on his knees, who will slowly stand when the guard arrives.

Sabo right by the side of the cage. 

Law Behind Luffy.

Ace on the other side.

He’s watching his brother intently, who looks calm, deadly so, with an intense air around him that he feels like he could touch if he reached out.

The guard doesn’t seem to notice, he’s smiling arrogantly like usual, opening up the cage before getting the collar down. He liked to pet Luffy who refuses to meet his eyes.

He pats his brother’s head, who’s standing awkwardly head down and eyes averted, Ace can see them from here and they have a silent glint of danger in them. 

“That’s a good bitch” He says, and crosses his arms.

“Kneel for me?” 

This is good. Luffy can easily pounce and knock him out like that.

His brother slowly lowers himself towards the ground, but Ace can see his calves tense.

In one moment, the guard is smirking and pleased with himself, in the next Luffy’s launches with a snarl. His arm lands first and knocks the guards chin upwards, before he opens his mouth, teeth on display, he completely forces his jaw down on the man’s throat. 

The guards' exclamations of shock are quickly turned into wet gurgles, Luffy’s feet dig into his arms and keeps them in place, and he kicks himself off the man with a wet squelch. 

The man falls limp, blood colouring the floors. Luffy stands above him, before spitting out something that lands with a plop. It looks like flesh.

He, and by the looks of it, Sabo and Law, too, are so shocked they’re standing still. 

Luffy slowly turns towards them, his face is emotionless but his eyes are a storm, a danger to come. It slowly morphs into a smile with blood stained teeth.

“He’s incapacitated!” 

That seems to restart them, and all of them file out of the cage. Sabo goes to get the keys and the remote. Law takes the gun, he himself takes the knife and Sabo takes the electrical rod. Luffy doesn’t take anything, but Ace kind of doubts he needs it after, you know, ripping out _someone’s_ throat _with his_ teeth- _._

Ace doesn't think he’ll be forgetting that image anytime soon.

He’s never seen Luffy look like that before.

Both literally and figuratively, his brother’s face is stained red with blood from the guard, it’s slowly drying now from having dripped from his chin.

But Luffy’s warm reddish brown eyes with gray specks, not much unlike his own, had held such a fierceness to them.

He looked like a predator, through and through, observing any danger around him with an air of penalty.

Ace almost felt threatened by his aura. 

It felt like standing in a small closed off room with the ocean entering and bearing down upon them.

He’s never thought that his little brother would affect him like this. 

He quickly gets his bearings back in place, they need to be swift and careful if they want to make it. 

Luffy and Law hurries down the corridor towards the pleasure and breeding slave corridors, Ace and Sabo are watching for any guards. When they’ve gotten the other slaves out and told them which ways to go, they’ll meet back in front of their cell and then escape through the treasury window that leads to the forest.

Luffy learned of this when he’d been in the room besides it and his customer had had a loud mouth telling him all about the room, and it’s pretty view of the forest around the estate. 

Sabo had then during a labour shift confirmed the window and the right route to take from there.

They’d take the path from the room and go towards the back where the fence were. From there, they’d follow the fence to the backdoor that leads into the forest, where they were gonna take out the guards stationed there before running. 

If they were lucky, no one would realise they’d be gone until it was too late.

If they were unlucky, good thing they brought their weapons.

Hearing footsteps, they look up and see Luffy, Law, and some women behind them. He figured they were other slaves. Because there were so many, had they prepared different routes to the other slaves, they weren’t going to go with them but they received directions from Law and hopefully they could take it from there.

“Let’s go.” Sabo says and leads them towards where the treasury would be. Luffy alongside him.

No one comments on the dead guard they run past, or Luffy’s still blood stained face (even though it’s dried now), they turn the corner and enter the main house through the door. Law goes first, and deems the road clear. At this time of night most of the guards are asleep in their champers or on performer duty. Since it was a private session night, most of them were turned in. 

They go along the walls till they reach the mahogany door of the room. Law, getting a hairpin from somewhere, makes quick work of the lock. They don’t turn on the light, but the moon’s rays give them plenty of visibility in the room.

Law stops, and Ace curiously looks at the huge sword on the wall the beta is eyeing. He watches the man pull it off the mount and smirks. Guess he got a new friend.

He scans the room for anything quick and valuable they can bring with them, the others do so as well, but stops at a particular item mounted in glass on the wall. 

He feels like all the air leaves his lungs. 

It’s an arm, perfectly reserved in the glass.

A severed arm. 

He’d know that arm anywhere.

A hand falls on his shoulder and he jolts. It’s Luffy looking at him with that uncomfortable blank stare he’s adapted, it makes him feel like he’s being teared open so his brother can read him.

“Breathe” He tells in a gentle voice, and Ace realises that yes, he did forget to breathe.

He clenches his eyes shut and tears them off the wall. 

“Is that your arm, Luffy-ya?” He hears the beta ask. He looks unbothered.

“Yeah, think’ so. Why?” Luffy, equally unbothered, answers.

“Do you want me to reattach it? I probably could with my devil fruit powers.”

Ignoring Sabo’s question of “You have a devil fruit?” Ace focuses his attention on Luffy’s expression.

His brother’s gotten really closed off throughout their stay, but Ace swears he catches a hint of something flicker in his eyes. Something unknown.

“Nah, ‘s fine. Anyway, let’s go” He brushes the topic off, the beta sighs and turns toward the window where Sabo’s waiting for them.

They open the window and jump out one by one, Law goes last with his sword. Using the dark as cover, they sneak towards the high fence and follow it till they reach the back gate. 

The gate is closed, but Sabo says he’ll creak it open and paralyze the guards using the electric rod before they can sound the alarm. 

This is a make it or break it move, should they succeed they’ll be out of here before anyone notices, but should they fail and sound the alarm, then they won’t have time to do anything but focus on fleeing. 

Hearing grunts of pain followed by thuds, Sabo’s hand comes through the creek in the gate and gives them a thumbs up. He hears himself and the women all sigh with relief, as they go through the gate. 

They steal the weapons from the guards, mainly the knives as the rods are too big to carry should they need to hide, and take off in the forest. 

They don’t know how long they’re in there, but at some point the green-haired lady squeals.

“Lights! I see town lights!” 

As they come closer with newfound energy, they all laugh at the sight.

It’s a small town, with lanterns lit upon an old stone road, but it’s a town nonetheless!. 

They stop right before entering it to catch their breaths.

“Luffy” The black haired woman says, catching all of their attentions. 

“Hm?”

“Thank you”

“I didn’t do anything, it was Sabo and Tora-o’s plan”

She laughs.

“That’s not it, but thank you to you as well. You brought an element of cheer to our corridor.”

The women bows to them, all of them, and looks at them with tears streaming from their eyes.

“My name is Boa Hancock. These are my sisters Boa Sandersonia,” She gestures to the green haired lady, “and Boa Marigold” She gestures to the brown haired lady.

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for freeing us. We shall ever be grateful.”

Luffy smiles his big grin, the one he used to wear all the time.

“I’m Monkey D. Luffy!” 

Law steps up.

“Trafalgar Law.”

“Monkey D. Sabo”

They look at him expectantly and he realises he introduce himself.

“Monkey D.Ace”

Hancock smiles at them and bows again.

“We shall never forget these names. If either of you ever finds yourself in peril and in need of assistance, know that the Kuja will have your backs. For now, till we meet again on the seas” She and her sisters all head towards the left and enter the town. 

Law turns to them.

“Guess this is where we’ll split up then, huh?” Sabo says. 

The man looks surprisingly gentle as he smiles at them.

“I wouldn’t have gotten out without your assistance, thank you. I hope you three succeed in whatever you plan on doing.” 

Luffy looks sad, but he’s smiling. Law ruffles his hair before he reaches out his wish hand. 

Sabo shakes it, and then he does as well.

The beta turns around and enters the village from the right, sword resting on his shoulders. 

“See you, Tora-o!” Luffy calls after him. Law doesn’t answer, but neither of them expected him to.

“Right. Should we find the harbour, then?” Sabo asks.

“No. We need to steal clothes first, and food. If we leave without provisions then we’ll be stuck. We don’t know what danger awaits us out there.” Luffy says. Sabo blinks, likely surprised by the logic, before he agrees. 

They find someone drying clothes outside (at night?) and steals a couple long sleeves and some sweatpants that looks like they’ll fit, as well as three beanies. 

They find a sack of fruit that they take as well by a vendor. Lastly, they procure some water in a couple tank like bottles they can carry in the pouch they stole as well.

They follow Luffy’s nose who’s following the scent of salt and sea, they find a small harbour at the edge which holds a couple ships. The biggest one smells empty, and Sabo’s about to check when Luffy holds out his arm.

“Let me, I have the better nose.” He says and jumps before either of them can counter argue.

Turns out they were right, the ship is empty but two people has definitely been on it. There’s a floor board with a compartment beneath it, it’ll be cramped but it should hide their scents among the ocean well enough. They file down there quickly. 

  
  


“When we get off at a different island, our first objective should be to remove the cuffs. Then, we need to figure out where we are, and where we go from here,” Sabo says. Ace and Luffy nod. 

“First though, we need to sleep.” Ace says, suddenly feeling bone deep tiredness stirring in him.

“You two rest, I’ll take first watch.” Luffy, unsurprisingly, says. Sabo mutedly nods and lays down, Luffy guides his head to his thigh. Ace mimics it, and Luffy’s hand switches between their hair as the threads his fingers through. 

Those warm touches are the thing that helps lull him to a restless sleep with dreams of red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are gonna start to get better! Though they do have A lot of things to sort out between them first. Thanks for reading!


	9. Living fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s definitely a kid, with long hair that’s falling down over their shoulders. They’re not facing upwards, rather focusing on keeping the compartment door shut.  
> After a few minutes, the banging stops (he hadn’t realised they’d been baning.) and the stranger slowly raises their head to look at him.
> 
> Their gazes meet and Marco instantly freezes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter:  
> None 
> 
> I don't own One Piece:,)

Crisp sea-salty air tickles his nose. 

They’d only been on the island for a few hours to hunt down the last couple of members of Teach’s supposed crew, yet it’d felt far too long for Marco. 

His rightful place is by Pop’s side on the Moby dick with all his siblings, yet because of the recent attempt on Thatch’s life, a lot of commanders have been employed to hunt down the traitors men. 

Footsteps click towards him, he opens his eyes and moves his head.

“You see the Moby?” Izou asks.

“No, not yet. But we’re still en route.” He says and gestures to the vivre card laid in his palm. 

“We’ve been sailing for a couple days now, so we should arrive later today. Wind seems favourable, too,” Izou says and walks up to stand beside him. 

“Wait, isn’t that it?” The alpha says and point’s towards the sea. There, on the horizon, is a tiny blob of colour that’s Not ocean.

Izou levels him with ‘You didn’t pay attention, did you?’ look, but he ignores it.

“I’ll check when we get closer.” He says, the alpha nods in approval. 

When the blob looks much more apparent, he spans out his haki in search of Oyaji’s aura.

_That is…_

“Izou.” 

“Hm? What is it, Marco?” The alpha turns to the beta man. Likely reacting to the serious tone, he straightens his back and a hand automatically rests on his gun.

“You stay here and watch for the Moby. It seems like we have unaccounted passengers.” 

The other man blinks in surprise. Anyone entering the boat would be able to see the mark of Whitebeard inside the cabin. 

“Alright. You deal with that, holler if you need me. If it is the moby then I’ll come find you when we’re about ten minutes out if you’re still not back by then.” 

“Sounds good.”

He’s not that surprised neither of them realised they had company, considering very few would mess with them. Thieves or stoways, he’ll see if they’re a danger to them or not.

Following the auras leads him to the storeroom where they have a compartment beneath the floorboards, it’s Thatch’s favourite place to hide snacks.

As he gets closer, he hears voices.

“-u going alone?!”

“-w we’re here. You sta-”

“O Way-”

The compartment door opens and closes quickly. Marco stops and looks at the.. kid, crouching before him.

It’s definitely a kid, with long hair that’s falling down over their shoulders. They’re not facing upwards, rather focusing on keeping the compartment door shut.

After a few minutes, the banging stops (he hadn’t realised they’d been baning.) and the stranger slowly raises their head to look at him.

Their gazes meet and Marco instantly freezes. 

It’s not because of the dried blood on the kids face, he barely notices that. No.

He’s never felt anything as intense as this, a pressure that fits a tsunami of will pours over him and the air abruptly leaves his lungs - he feels like he’s being torn open and having every inch of him scrutinized by the stranger. 

After what feels like decades to him, but is probably only a few minutes, the kid blinks and the intensity is gone, he gasps for air and feels the cold sweat on his face.

_Who is this kid?_

Black orbs study him still, but not in the same dangerous ferocity as before.

Marco shows his palms and takes a step closer, immediately the kid's lip pulls back and he growls.

The banging starts up again, worse than before, Marco thinks he might hear voices beneath.

Stopping and getting on his knees, palms up, the kid’s growling dies off, but he’s still eyeing him warily. 

The banging continues for a moment, the kid knocks on the door a few times before it stops completely.

“We’re sorry. We only wanted to get off at a different island. We haven’t taken anything from your ship, if you want you can punish me however you want, but I ask you to spare my brothers.” The kid says, before lowering his head. He looks young, and even though Marco isn’t close enough to really tell, he can tell he’s in bad condition.

His best guess is they’re runaway slaves. 

“What’s your name?” He asks. The boy lifts his head and glares at him weakly.

“Why?”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to tell, but it’d be nicer than me calling you ‘boy’ wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t care what you call me.”

“Well, alright. You can rest Red, we won’t hurt you or your brothers.” 

The boy searches his eyes before nodding. He knocks once on the compartment door before stepping off.

Now standing up, it’s much easier for Marco to tell that he’s in bad shape. The kid is thin, and the oversized one sleeve does nothing to hide the scars on his neck.

The compartment opens again, and two more boys step out in similar state of dress, Red steps in front of them protectively, even though he looks to be younger than both.

Even from far away, he can easily see how filthy they are. The blonde? (it looks blonde but the dirt makes it hard to tell) kid has burns that stand out on his face, the other kid has dark hair similar to Red.

He guesses these are the brothers. 

“You can drop us off at the next island you visit.” Red says. 

Marco hides the wince. He’s sure he and Izou would be able to find an island nearby, but given that these are likely runaway slaves it’s not the best idea. 

But he can’t very well force them to come with them to the moby, either.

He’ll have to give it a try though and offer help.

Before he gets the chance, the door to the room opens and Izou is walking down the stairs. His pistol is raised, and Red has an arm lifted in front of the dark haired older one, he’s growling with teeth bared.

Marco stops Izou with his own outstretched arm, the other commander halts and he hears a faint gasp. The alpha probably realises it’s kids, and runaways at that.

The moby dick have housed many runaway slaves, Oyaji always tells them to protect and help those who do get out of their situations. 

Doesn’t mean it gets any easier though, especially when its kids.

Quickly pocketing his gun, Izou repeats the same actions Marco himself did earlier by kneeling with his palms up.

The growling stops, but Red doesn’t lower his arm.

Instead, he sees them lock eyes and watch as Izou goes through the same intense search as he did. He wonders, if the kid has untamed conquerors haki that he uses with his observation haki unintentionally. 

If so, then that’s a true beast in the making.

Seemingly satisfied with what he finds (or doesn’t find?) the kid lowers his arm. 

“Marco, this is..”

“Yeah”

The alpha man stands up again and eyes the kids. 

“You didn’t come back, so I went to see what was up. Also, the moby is 10 minutes out. “

The man pauses, crosses his arms and chews on his lip.

“Should we…” He starts, Marco sighs and stops him. He knows what his friend wants to say.

“We can’t force them.”

“We can hear you, you know.” Red speaks up. 

Izou forces what he likely thinks is a pleasant smile.

“Sorry. We don’t mean to decide on what you should do, promise. However, if you’d let us, we can help you?”

He sounds awkward, and Marco is sure the man himself is aware, but he understands it. These kids look like they’ve been through the wringer.

Red is appraising and speaking for them, and the two older kids are glaring at them, each with a hand fisted in Red’s shirt.

He wonders briefly, why they’re not saying anything. They both look like they’d rather want Red to be behind them, not the opposite.

“We’d appreciate it, if you set us off at the next island.” Red says again and Izou actually winces.

Red’s watchful eyes catch it.

“Where are you headed?” The kid asks. 

Marco decides to step in.

“Alright, I’m just going to be frank. We went to the island where you likely got on for a mission, we’re pirates, and we’re returning to our main ship, Moby dick. Actually, we’re probably there in a few minutes.”

The kids doesn’t bat an eye when he says they’re pirates, but he does narrow them when he says they’re at their ship.

“And there’s no islands nearby, then?” 

“The closest are in the same sea as where we came from. Taking you back isn’t a good idea, people would look for you.” He says, Red’s eyes widen, likely only just realising it now.

“That’s what we mean by help. Our ship and our crew is big. We have helped many runaways like you, if you want to, you can come aboard and we’ll do our best to get you somewhere safe.” 

“Why would you do that?”

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“Can...Can we decide after meeting the captain and the crew?” Red asks. His brothers both look surprised, and slightly more apprehensive than him. They also look like they want to protest, but Red looks at them with a small smile. 

He expects them to look a bit better, if not relieved, but instead they both look heartbroken.

“Alright. You can take us to your ship.” Red says, and Izou blinks before he runs up the stairs with a shout of “The ship”. Marco fights the urge to facepalm.

He does allow himself to sigh.

Standing aside, he gestures with his arms for the kids to go. The blonde reaches into the still open door to the compartment and gets a sack that looks close to empty, before following Red who, very unsurprisingly, walks in front. 

Up on the deck, they see Izou looking relieved, the Moby dick is right in front of them but they don’t look close to crash.

The kids look at the incoming ship with a glint of curiosity.

The blonde slowly turns to look at him, hesitating slightly before he opens his mouth to speak.

“Where… are we?” 

Red eyes the blonde. The blonde doesn’t break eye contact with Marco.

“You’re in the grand line, close to the new world.” 

All three kids go slack jawed in surprise. 

“THE GRAND LINE?!” The black haired kid shouts. Red lifts a hand to the boy’s shoulder in a show of comfort. 

Based on their surprises, they’re likely far from home.

“Oiiii!” Before anyone else can add anything, a voice shouts from the railing on the moby. Marco recognizes it as Thatch, who’s waving excitedly at them. Behind him is Haruta, who’s throwing the ladder down. Namur, who’s standing a little off to the side, is readying himself to jump and get the provisions boat resecured to the main ship.

The kids tense up, but Red both nods to them and takes the lead behind Izou, who’s climbing the ladder.

“Izou’s gonna explain the situation to Oyaji, don’t worry.”

They don’t react to him, only look blankly at him before Red looks down at his arm. 

“Is something wrong?” 

Thing is, Marco’s never been good with kids. He likes them well enough, but he doesn’t always know how to act. 

Now he realises he forgot to ask if any of them were hurt, maybe Red has a hurt arm and can’t climb the ladder?

The kid clenches his fist before lowering it. 

He looks at his brothers and nods at them, before walking over to Marco.

This close, he can tell something looks.. Off.

“I can’t climb to the ship right now, not with these shackles on.”

That.. is not what he expected. 

“Are you hurt?”

Kid blinks at him. He looks confused for a moment, before lifting one of his arms with a raised brow.

Marco doesn’t get it.

Red reaches to grip his other ar-oh. Oh.

The kid only has one arm.

How the hell didn’t he notice?

“Right. Okay, grab on and I’ll fly us up.” He says. The kid looks at his arms in blatant confusion, even more so when he raises his right leg for him to hold.

He grabs his calf, and Marco let’s his fruit take the wind.

Sparing a glance to Red, he looks surprised, but not fearful.

Marco would almost call the glint in his eyes joy. 

Spying his brothers on the deck, he flies a couple extra rounds for good measure, and for the kids sake, who is definitely enjoying it. 

The kids brothers look worried, and he decides to slowly land. 

As soon as Red’s bare feet touch the deck, the other two crowds him and checks him over (he suspects his is habit, as they could see Marco didn’t hurt him-) 

Finding nothing, some of the tense lines bleed from their shoulders.

Izou claps his hands, holding a very curious Thatch at bay, and makes everyone around them give them space. 

“While Marco goes and fills in Oyaji on both the mission and the situation, how about you three get a shower and some clean clothes?” 

Red once again steps in front of his brothers and searches the 16th commanders eyes, before he nods. 

Keeping a good distance from the alpha, the kids all trail behind him to a private shower room. 

Thatch comes up to him with a worried glint in his eyes.

“Did you see those scars??? Kid looked mauled.” 

“He’s not the only one, the other two also have bite marks. What’re their ranks, do you think?”

The alpha cook hums.

“It was hard to tell, their scents were very blood filled, and also very similar. But, I’m guessing the older ones are alpha, and based on the amount of bites on the smaller one, that he’s omega.” 

“It’s cruel. Doing something like that to anyone, kids especially.” Haruta says from the side. They both nod.

“I’m gonna go and fill in Oyaji, Thatch could you tell the remaining commanders to gather? After that, maybe make them something light to eat.”

“Actually I’ll start on their food now, I think Roci’s in the kitchen and I’ll ask him to get them”

“Alone!?”

Haruta and Marco exclaim at the same time. 

The omega isn’t a part of their crew, not really, but he’s been sailing with them for years and recently, if it weren’t for the clumsy man, they’d have lost Thatch and Teach would be who knows where. 

“Hey it’s fine, someone’s probably there to watch him.” Thatch says, but hurries to the kitchen afterwards anyway. 

No one blames him, the tall blonde can break anything just breathing on it somehow.

Steeling himself, he goes to find Oyaji.  
  
\-----

He shows them how to use the shower, and turns around dutifully as they undress. 

Feeling a tug in his kimono, Izou turns and meets brownish red eyes that have specks of grey in them.

He knows these kids aren’t in the best shape, but they’re definitely dangerous, especially the smallest one.

His instincts screams for him to be on guard whenever their eyes meet, he if nothing else he’s always prided himself for those instincts.

“How’d Pineapple man do that? The flying thing, I mean” He kid asks him. This close, Izou spots a scar beneath his left eye, and a slash starting from his right cheek and ending on the left side of his nose. And, looking even closer, there’s a lot of small almost aligned in a specific pattern around his mouth. 

It makes Izou hurt.

“He has a devil fruit. Have you ever heard of those?”

The kid nods. Izou smiles what he hopes is a kind and inviting one.

“Pineapple-san a zoan type. He turns into a bird.” 

“That’s cool.” The kid says, looking at his arm, before turning around and walking to the shower stall.

Before Izou can turn around, he catches a glimpse of the kids back and the etched-in symbol of an Omega. 

He clenches his fist so hard he fears blood will spill.

“I’m gonna get you some clothes, if you need my help just holler. I’ll be right back.” 

Right as he closes the door, he thinks he hears one of them say that “turning into a blue bird is cooler than rubber huh” and resulting splashes. He smiles.

Getting clothes that fit them will have to wait till he can take their measurements, but after eyeballing their sizes, he gathers up three T shirts and shorts, as well as three small cloaks should it be too cold. He also grabs socks, as all three are barefooted. 

When he gets back, he knocks before he enters and sees the little one in the middle of washing the blonde’s hair. The older dark haired is towelling his body off, but stops and glances at Izou.

“Here, let me know if it doesn’t fit well enough.” He leaves the clothes on a counter by the towelling racks before turning around again. Around ten minutes later, all three are clothed and clean, and being led towards the upper deck where Oyaji is.

When they get there, Izou notes the commanders have all been gathered, well the commanders plus Rosinante, who’s standing next to Thatch eyeing the children. 

Izou goes to stand by the other commanders, and the kids stop in the middle, before Oyaji who’s looking on with poorly concealed interest.

The small kid is standing in front of his brothers who look unsure and nervous. He doesn’t look nervous, his gaze is hard as steel, and Izou realises he’s searching the eyes of everyone there. 

As more and more people present break into a cold sweat, the intrigue and interest on Oyaji’s face doubles till he’s smirking and meeting the kid head on in what looks like a staring match.

Everyone holds their breath. The kid blinks before he nods. Oyaji laughs. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

“Welcome to the moby dick you brats. Rakuyo,” The division leader steps forth, “help them get rid of their shackles.” The man leaves quickly to comply, and the kids come a little closer to Oyaji. 

“What’re your names?”He asks them. 

The kid starts to talk, but a hand on his shoulder make him pause to look at the other dark haired one.

“You sure we can trust them?”

The kid smiles.

“Yeah, giant man mustache is good. Don’t worry, I’ll watch out for you.” He says and Izou’s heart near breaks, the kid looks so accepting of any fate befalling him. He understands the storm of emotions in the other twos eyes, as an older brother himself, he knows it’s his duty to be the protector.

Ignoring the pang of hurt in his heart at the thought of his sister, he watches the kids.

“I’m Monkey D. Luffy” The kid, Luffy, introduces himself with a small smice. 

The blonde hesitates before speaking.

“Monkey D. Sabo” 

They look at the last one, who sighs before speaking too.

“Monkey D. Ace”

He watches as Marco and Rosinante’s eyes both widen comically. Oyaji laughs again.

“I see. Well then. Where do you want to go?” 

“Is.. How far is east blue?” Luffy asks, Ace and Sabo share a glance.

“Four months, give or take. If you have a specific destination in mind, we can take you there. But for now, do you want us to set course to east blue?” 

Izou, and likely everyone else, wonders why Oyaji’s doing this.

Sure, they’ve helped a lot of slaves before and sailed many home. But all the way to east blue? They haven’t gone that far.

He gets it, they’re kids who've been through a lot, but the marines are gonna notice something’s up, not to mention that east blue is the territory of Garp the fist. 

They all nod, none of them saying anything. The oldest two lowers their head in what resembles a bow, but Luffy doesn’t. He doesn’t look hopeful. Izou’s really starting to worry about that dull air of acceptance that seems to flow around the kid. 

Oyaji smirks, and the message is clear. They’re going to adjust course to help these boys. 

The commanders sigh fondly, before leaving for their tasks which have now changed due to the new destination. 

He sees Rakuyo come back with his tool box, and watches as new energy seems to flood into Luffy and Ace as soon as the shackles are off. Marco tells them to follow him to the galley, where they can get something to eat. 

Izou’s gonna have to find them later so he can find or make some new clothes that’ll actually fit them, plus he’s getting some ideas for shirts to accommodate Luffy’s missing limb. 

“Izou, do you still have my Den Den book?” Oyaji asks of him. 

“Yes, it’s right here,” Pulling the green faded small book out from a pocket inside his kimono, he hands it over to his captain.

“Who’re you going to call?” He hears Namur ask. 

“Garp.” 

Ah, right.

“That makes sense, East blue is his territory after all.” He says, and explains to Namur who looks to have forgotten about that. 

Seemingly finding the marine hero’s snail number in his book, they listen to it ring a couple times.

‘Gatcha’

“ _Who_ _is this_?” A gruff tired voice asks from the other end. Izou has never heard him talk before or met the hero, but he’d imagine this older man wouldn’t sound so.. Defeated.

“It’s been a while, Garp” Oyaji smirks into the snail, and Izou’s getting suspicious (and, if he spies correctly out of the corner of his eye, so is Namur.)

_“Newgate. Surprised you have my number. What do you want? It’s not like you to just call to chat.”_

“The moby just set course for east blue. We’ll likely land there in around 4 months”

There’s a scandalous exclaim of huh?! On the other end of the snail.

_“You stay out of my sea! What could you possibly want in the East blue?!”_

“Does the names Monkey D. Ace, Monkey D. S-”

_“Where have you heard that name?”_

Normally Izou would feel anger at having his captain be rudely interrupted, but the sheer desperation in the marines voice stops it.

“From the kids themselves. I didn’t know you had grandchildren, Garp.” 

There’s a sob, it’s full of relief and the snail is crying.

_“I’m.. so glad they’re alive...Are they okay? What’re they like?”_

The captain sighs.

“They’re in bad shape, but nothing life threatening. They’re spirited and will recover, the world isn’t ready for the storms they’re gonna bring, Especially the little one.” 

_“Yeah, Luffy’s always been a bit of an energy ball. Ace, too. Sabo’s usually good at keeping them both in check, but..”_

“That’s not what I meant. Luffy has conquerors haki. Doubt he knows how to use it, but kids a damn beast. He stared down all my commanders trying to see if anyone wanted to harm them.” 

Garp laughs, it’s wet and snotty, but Izou thinks he hears a mumbled ‘that's my grandson’. 

_“You said you were four months out? Call me again when you’re a week out, I’ll meet you by the border.”_

“Alright. How old are the brats?”

_"Luffy would be 15, Sabo and Ace 18"_

_“Oh, and Newgate? Harm a hair on their heads and I’ll have yours.”_

The line cuts off, signalling the end of a call.

Oyaji laughs again.

Before Izou can leave to start prepping for the kids new clothes, he hears shouts and spies Rosinante running from the mess hall, grabs the first bucket he sees, fills it with water, and runs back in. 

Letting his curiosity get the better of him, he walks into the galley just to see Rosinante throw the bucket of water on Ace. 

Luffy looks panicked, staring at his brother with wide eyes, Sabo’s holding him back from.. Whatever it is that happened.

He walks over to Thatch, who’s standing shock still.

“What happened?”

“Ace just caught fire”

“Pardon?”

“Like he was eating and his shoulders and shirt all just went. Poof. And then Luffy screamed and tried to put it out but Sabo lifted him away. Then Rosi went to get water and dump it.”

A moment.

“He caught fire. Just like that?”

“Yeah”

“Huh.” 

Looking at Ace, now wet and fire free, Luffy’s looking him over for injuries with a single minded ferocity.

“What is it Lu? And hey, you, tall blondie! What’re you playing at?”

The.. boy doesn’t even seem to realise what's happened.

“Ace, you… You were on fire. I thought.. I thought for a moment that I’d been wrong.” 

The kid stops chewing for a moment. Before a wet hand falls unto Luffy’s long dark hair.

“I’m okay, Lu. Your instincts are crazy good remember? You’ve never been wrong.” 

Luffy (and oh god they call him Lu-) nods. Inspecting the kids now wet shirt, for any burn marks and finding none, he lets go and sits back down.

“Is this a grand line thing? I read once in a book weird things happen.” Sabo says, he doesn’t know if he’s asking someone or not.

“Maybe it’s just a Rosinante thing. Rosi-san here tends to light himself on fire accidentally all the time.” 

Rosinante rolls his eyes, sitting the bucket down by the doorway.

“Right. Anyway, let me go get you some dry clothes and a to-”

The kid sneezes and Fire shoots from his nose and unto the table.

Ace drops the fork he’d been holding. 

Rosinante refills the bucket.

As he leaves the room (is that even safe?) he thinks for a moment that despite barely having been here an hour, the kids all fit in… scaringly well.

He wonders if they’ll be getting new additions to their family during their little voyage.


	10. Character information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> List of characters and ranks  
> Additional info on my ABO universe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a chapter, sorry, but here's a list of characters that have appeared and their ranks!  
> When other characters appear, this list will be updated.

Ace - Alpha

Sabo - Alpha

Luffy - Born alpha, changed into an Omega

Garp - Alpha

Law - Beta

Makino - Beta

Hancock - Alpha

Sandersonia - Omega

Marigold - Beta

Marco - Beta

Izou - Alpha

Thatch - Alpha

Haruta - Beta

Namur - Fishman, no rank 

Rosinante/Corazon - Omega

Whitebeard - Omega 

Rakuyo - Beta

ABO INFO:

Beta are about 80% of the population, nobles are usually beta and if an alpha or omega is born to a noble, they'll usually disown them or forcefully remove their scent glands (yes this will lead to death in 99% of cases). Beta people don't have intense instincts or keen sense of scents/smell, and only have scent glands in their wrists which are really small. They can mark and omega or alpha, but can't be marked themselves. 

Alpha are 10% of the population (3% being the female sex, 7% being the male sex), they're mostly the result of a homozygote dominant gene. Like omega, alpha have scent glands in their neck area and in their wrist as well, they're larger than an omega gland. They have bigger ''mating'' teeth than Beta do, and have an exceptional keen sense of smell/Scents. Their instincts during puberty fluctuate a lot, and many experience anger problems or manic episodes due to hormone irregularity. Alpha instincts focus on being the half parent of a group (their kin or pack) and hones in on responsibility. For some, it's a lot more intense than it is for others.   
When an alpha presents the second time (when body is ready for reproduction,) they will experience a couple days every other month called a rut, where hormone levels rise and the sexual drive will rise as well.   
For the female sex, the rut often occurs at the same time as the persons period.

Omega are the last 10% of the population (2.4% being the male sex, 7.6% being female sex) and are a result of homozygote recessive gene. Like alpha, omega have scent glands in their neck area and in their wrists, but their neck glands are slightly smaller than an alpha gland. Omega have an exceptional sense of scents/smell, so much that for some they get migraines from being overwhelmed by it.   
Omega instincts focuses on being the other parent in their group (be it pack or kin) and have heavily protective and in some cases possessive instincts. The instincts will make the omega feel like it is their job/duty to protect and nurture the pack, and for a lot of people this becomes hard to deal with sometimes.   
When an omega person presents for the second time (as in, their body is now ready for reproduction,) they will experience an increase in hormones and libido for a few days, for the female sex this occurs at the same time as their period. For the male sex, they'll experience phantom cramps, and the hormone increase will result in an fertility period should the person be fertile, but their body absorbs the egg should it not be fertilized.   
This is a heat. 

Is the omega or alpha bonded or marked, they might crave the others company. 

So reading this, it's likely become pretty apparent this isn't your traditional ABO (as has been tagged of course,) and if you prefer the other more, uh, smutty? kind of abo, then this might not be for you? 

In this, instincts and slight physical/bodily altercations is what it centers on, there's no ladder in society, but there is in packs. 

Kin and packs isn't the same, kin is family and packs is a group. The two can overlap or merge though.

If anyone has any questions regarding the lore, feel free to ask!

**Author's Note:**

> I have read this through a couple times myself, but I am but one man so it's quite possible I've missed something.  
> English ain't my mother tongue, far from it, so if there's anything sentence wise or grammatical wise, please point it out to me as I tend to mix up sentence grammaticism in my head. Thank you:,)
> 
> Also if you see a tag that isn't there but you feel like it should be, let me know and I'll add it.


End file.
